


Charmed

by RielleB



Category: Mamamoo
Genre: F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-08-21 20:52:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 73,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8260156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RielleB/pseuds/RielleB
Summary: Hail as one of the most eligible bachelorette in town, Moon Byul Yi, a top lawyer in her early 30s was infamous for being unattainable. That is, until the daughter of one of her senior partner came back to South Korea and turned her world upside down.





	1. Chapter 1

**Moonbyul’s Office**

8.05 PM

 

“Hey, Byul?”

Moonbyul looked up from the brief that she’s been reading to see one of her senior partner standing just outside her open door.

“Yeah?”

“Something just come up with the PE Project, I need to have an emergency conference call with China. Can you pick Wheein from the airport?”

“Wheein?”

“My daughter, remember her?” the fatherly looking Korean man smiled warmly at the mentioned of his daughter’s name.

Moonbyul chuckled softly. She tossed her pen on to the table and stretched the kink out of her body, “How can I forget my Wheepup? She used to follow me around when I interned for you.”

She grinned widely, reminiscing on how the bespectacled cute kid always wanted to tag along wherever she goes, looking up at her with her cute puppy expression. “How long has it been since you sent her to America? She was around 13?”

“Yep, time flew right? It’s been 8 years now and she just finished her law degree in America. So, you’re okay with picking her up?”

“Yeah, sure, why not, what time?”

“She’ll land in an hour.”

And that’s how Moonbyul found herself standing in front of Terminal-1 at the Incheon International airport, waiting for a certain girl that would turn her world upside down.

***

**Incheon International Airport**

Moonbyul fiddled with her phone when she was not checking the crowd for a particular bespectacled kid to come through the arrival gate. They have lost contact for quite some time now, well, aside from the occasional birthday and Christmas wishes of course. She wondered whether Wheepup can still recognize her.

She combed her fingers through her hairs, once again checking the hour on her phone, when a beautiful blonde caught her line of sight.

* _Pretty_ * she thought to herself before sighing and debating with herself whether or not to call the old Jung. It’s been over an hour since the arrival time, yet, she still hasn’t seen that kid anywhere.

She looked over at the blond again. The young woman seems a little lost, she wondered if she should just went over there and help her.

She scoffed to herself, * _Right, like that’s all you want to help her with_.* She looked again, a little closer this time and against her better judgment, her feet took her closer to the young woman.

“Hi.”

Moonbyul tapped the woman’s shoulder lightly, the least she wanted to do is to scare the young woman out of her wits.

The blond turned around, and whatever breath on Moonbyul’s body seemed to leave her in a whoosh.

It could be because the young woman is breathtakingly beautiful, but most probably it was because the young woman suddenly scream out what seems to be Byul’s name and just as suddenly threw herself into Byul’s arms.

“Ommphh!” Byul tightened her hold onto the blonde’s body, making sure that both of them wont toppled backward.

The arms around her neck tightened as the young woman burrowed herself deeper into Byul’s embraced while the latter raked deep into the far recess of her brain.

* _shit…shit… did I sle_ _ep_ _with her before? I mean, she’s gorgeous, how_ _in_ _the world can_ _I forget about her_ _?_ *  

“I miss you, unnie! Oh gosh, you look even more beautiful than I remember!”

* _wait,_ unnie _? Wheepup!!??_ *

Moonbyul took a step back, slightly pushing the younger woman off of her to take a better look.

The dark orbs looking up at her has the same glint of mischief as she remembered and the slight pout currently adorning her face, successfully recreated the puppy face that she used to see 8 years ago. Holy crap, this really is Wheepup.

Moonbyul laughed and shook her head slightly, * _so much for finding her attractive_ *

“How are you, kiddo? Wow… you grow up nicely, I almost didn’t recognize you. What did you do to my Wheepup?”

Wheein giggled, one of her delicate hand raised up to covers her face.  She shyly looked at the older woman with a bright smile on her pretty face, “So you think I’m pretty, unnie? Pretty enough to be your girlfriend now?”

Moonbyul froze and gaped at the young woman in front of her, “Say again?”

“You don’t remember?” Wheein unconsciously pout, disappointment written all over her face, “tsk… tsk… unnie… you’re getting old, how could you not remember.” She threw a playful glare at the confused woman in front of her before giving her another bright smile.

“So, you’re here to pick me up?”

“Errr yeah, yeah…. Come on, I’m sure you’re tired. Is that all?” Byul glanced at the small pink luggage and the girl nodded.

“Yeah, I shipped all of my stuffs before I leave New York.”

“Here, let me.” Moonbyul took the handle from Wheein’s hand, enjoying the beaming smile that the girl seemed to love bestowing upon her. She chuckled when the girl enthusiastically linked their arms together and snuggled closer to her.

 

The journey to the Jung residence was filled with a comfortable silence, probably due to the fact that Wheein instantly fell asleep after she put her seat belt on. Moonbyul laughed slightly when her question fell on deft ear and she saw the girl beside her already fast asleep with the most serene expression.

“You still haven’t change aren’t you? Still a sleepy head.” Moonbyul shook her head and purposely drove slower than she used to.

Moonbyul parked her car in front of the Jung’s home, a luxurious and exclusive town house in the most upscale neighborhood in Seoul. She undo her seat belt and turned her body to face the still sleeping girl.

She brushed the soft hair covering the girl’s face gently, smiling unconsciously as she took in the adorable sight in front of her. “Wheepup…” she shook her gently, then with a little more force when the girl won’t even budge.

 

15 minutes passed, yet Wheein still refused to wake up. After making sure that the girl is indeed still breathing, Moonbyul fished her phone out of her pants pocket and dialed the culprit that made her in her predicament right now.

“I can’t wake your daughter up. I’ve tried for 20 minutes already! No, you don’t have the rights to laugh at me. What do you mean take her to my place? Uncle, do I need to remind you that you have a butler?? Why can’t he open the door for me? Vacation? Oh gosh…. Do I mind? Seriously, old man? Do I have a choice? Fine, but you owe me. You hear that? You owe me.”

Moonbyul raked her fingers through her hair and looked at the sleeping princess dejectedly. She sighed heavily before reversing her car and drove it toward her apartment complex.

***

 

Moonbyul ignored the raised eyebrow of her doorman as she carried Wheein in her arms bridal-style.

“Can you at least press the elevator button for me? For petesakes, Min-seok!”

The young man quickly scrambled to his feet and pressed the button, “Do you need any other help Miss Moon?”

She rolled her eyes and stepped into the waiting elevator, “Next time, don’t be too dumbstruck.”

“Yeah well, it’s kind of an unusual view, miss.” The young man smile sheepishly. He used to see women clinging on this particular tenant, but never in his years working as a doorman, that he ever saw Moonbyul carrying what seem like a sleeping woman in her arms like that.

“Enjoy your night, miss.” Moonbyul cringed a little at that, especially when she saw the big grin on the man’s face as the elevator closed.

She then looked at the STILL sleeping girl in her arms and grimaced, “Unbelievable.”

 

She gently laid Wheein on her bed and tucked her in, chuckling lightly as she watched the girl scrunched her face before burrowing her face fully into the pillow, her arms hugging the extra pillow that Moonbyul provided for her.

“Sleep tight, Princess.” whispered Moonbyul before she walked out from the room toward the expansive living room.

She prepared a stiff drink for herself and grabbed the cordless phone from its resting place before plopping down on the comfortable couch. Her fingers quickly dialed a number that she knew by heart, “Hey babe, lunch tomorrow? Yeah, picked me up? Sure, see you tomorrow then.”

She tossed the phone away and gulped down her drink in one go. She rested her head on top of the cushion and close her eyes, hopefully the nightmare have a mercy on her tonight. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Moonbyul blinked and shielded her eyes from the blazing sunlight shinning upon her. She groaned out loud and with both of her hands still covering her face, she sat up on the couch.   

Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she was about to stand up when she suddenly leaped backward with a loud, “Jesus!”

Sitting comfortably on the floor in front of the couch, with her chin resting on her raised knees was Wheein. She laughed when she saw the shocked look on Moonbyul’s face and jutted out her tongue playfully, “Did I scare you?”

“You think???” Moonbyul raked her fingers on her hair roughly, her heart beating like crazy, it seems like that girl just erased 10 years out of her life line.

“What are you thinking sitting there anyway?”

“Awww, but you looked so cute sleeping like that, I like watching you. Come on, I made coffee.” She stood up and pulled the reluctant Moonbyul out of the couch and into the kitchen.

The smell of coffee permeated the air and Moonbyul calmed down a bit after she had her first sip of the brew. It was actually quite good, just the way she liked it, a hot black coffee.

“So this is your apartment?”

Moonbyul nodded, she never one to have conversation in the morning especially before she finished her cup of coffee, so she opted to just use her body language.

“I like it! Can I stay here?”

Moonbyul coughed out loud and waved her hand, indicating that she’s fine when Wheein quickly moved to her side to pat down her back.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” She croaked out before walking to the kitchenette and took out a cloth to wipe the mess she just created.

She smiled a little at the girl and accepted her offered glass of water and gulped it down greedily, “I’m taking you to your dad place before I go to the office, your luggage is still in my car, so you are welcome to raid my closet.”

“How about I just asked my dad to bring my stuff over here? I mean it when I asked you, can I stay here?”

Moonbyul stared at the girl in disbelief, “come again?”

“Unnie, are you already that old until there’s something wrong with your hearing? I. Want. To. Stay. Here. With. You.” And with the last word she jumped into Byul’s embrace, giggling slightly when Moonbyul yelped and forced to tightened her hold on Wheein's body.

“Wheepup! You’re not 13 anymore for godsakes, stop jumping me.”

“I know.” she smiled down at Byul and the latter just realized that she had the perfect view of the girl’s asset. The tight black tank top gave her the perfect view of Wheein’s cleavage while the white short gave her access to the smoothness of the girl’s thigh and Moonbyul groaned.

“I was kind of hoping that you’ll be sleeping with me last night, why do you have to sleep on the couch?” Wheein asked innocently.

Moonbyul actually grimaced at her choice of words. Closing her eyes tightly so she didn’t have to be eyes to breasts, she let the girl down and walked quickly toward her bedroom, shouting “I’m going to take a shower” over her back, groaning when she heard the light laughter from the kitchen area.

***

 

Moonbyul dropped Wheein back to her parent's house, thankful that Wheein's mother already awake to open the door for them. Then, using work as an excuse, she speed over to the office, possibly driving even more reckless than a cab driver on crack.

She stormed toward old Jung office, before addressing him with a clipped voice, “Your daughter. Home. Safe.” She then turned on her heels, ignoring the robust laughter coming from inside the office.

Moonbyul just reached her office when Hyejin came over, ipad and coffee mug in hand, she sat unceremoniously onto the seat in front of Moonbyul’s desk.

“I can’t believe my luck, seriously, first my assistant got married, then my second assistant have a maternity leave, now my THIRD assistant just told me that she’s getting married in two weeks!! Lend me one of your assistant?” Hyejin threw her best puppy dog look at Kahlen, and batted her eyelashes just for the sakes of it.

Moonbyul covered her face with one hand, while her other hand was put in front of Hyejin’s face to blocked whatever cutesiness invading her eyes sight, “Ugh, stop. I haven’t even had my breakfast yet, don’t make me hurl.”

“Meh, you’re not fun, so what do you say, friend? Lend me one of your assistant or two?”

“Yeah sure, my case load kind of light anyway, I just wrapped up two projects last week. So yeah, I can spare you my minions, just don’t over work them.”

Hyejin grinned happily, “Awesome! You’re the best! Anyway, what’s with the long face? Don’t tell me you’re actually unhappy because you don’t have enough work to do?” Moonbyul’s workaholic-ness was legendary and can only be compared to Yongsun’s, but that’s another story altogether. 

“Nothing, not enough sleep, that’s all.” She rubbed her temple slowly, fending off the headache she’d sure come soon.

Hell, she can’t exactly tell Hyejin that the reason of her bad mood was because she wasn’t sure which one she should feel more embarrassed of, getting caught checking out her partner daughter’s butt or the fact that the girl actually winked at her afterward.

And then there was the after shower incident.

Moonbyul cringed as she remembered the moment she stepped out from the shower and almost got a heart attack, when she saw Wheein already sitting Indian style on her bed, a pillow on her lap, smiling at her with that freaking innocent smile on her face.

She literally had to carry the girl out of her room when she won’t even budge, no matter how many time Moonbyul gave her hints that she was going to change. Moonbyul frowned, it was actually the first time she felt uncomfortable undressing in front of, well…. anyone.   

A snap of a finger in front of her face brought her back to reality and she came face to face with a worried expression of Hyejin, “Okay, seriously, you’re freaking me out. What’s on your mind?”

“Lack of sleep, I told you. By the way, Yongsun’s coming over for lunch. it’s been ages since we have a great lunch out together.”

Hyejin nodded while sipping her coffee before standing up from her seat, “Take a nap, fuck someone, just not an assistant, I need them. Do whatever it is you need to do, but dude, wipe that frown off your face, you’re scaring me.” She shook her head and then left the frowning Moonbyul to her own device.

***

 

After lunch with two of her favorite people in the world and a big serving of margarita along with it, Moonbyul was smiling once more when they reached the office.

That smile however, soon turned into a frown when the senior partners summoned all of them to the conference room for an emergency meeting.

She searched her brain for any possible emergency and can’t find anything on the docket that merits an emergency meeting like this.

Her steps stopped on the track when she realized the reason of the meeting, or to be exact, who. She looked up at the ceiling and murmured to herself, “Universe, you have got to be kidding me.”

“Who are you talking to?” Hyejin whispered from behind her and Byul actually leaped off of her feet.

“Jesus, Hyejin! The hell…” she glared at her grinning friend and took a deep breath before proceeding to take a seat beside Hyejin, which coincidentally made her seated directly across the young woman whose been running rampant through her head all day.

She lowered her gaze when Wheein actually winked at her from across the table. A motion that did not escaped Hyejin’s sharp eyes.

The latter nudged at Moonbyul with her elbow and spoke ventriloquist-ly through the side of her mouth, “did she just wink at you!?”

“Shut up.” Moonbyul whispered discreetly before turning her attention fully toward the two senior partners of their law firm.

The side of her face felt burned by the gaze sent her way, yet Moonbyul was determined to ignore the unspoken request for Moonbyul to look Wheein’s way.

She drowned out whatever it was that the other senior partner was yapping on in front of the meeting room. She clapped politely when Wheein stood up and gave a 90 degrees bow to everyone in the room and introduced herself.

And she smiled and nodded her head when old Jung said that his daughter will be interning with their law firm and will be mentored by one of their greatest asset and how he hoped that Moonbyul will take a good care for his precious daughter… wait what!!!???

She snapped out of her bubble world and gaped at the smiling partners in front of her. She lifelessly let old Jung and old Kwon shook her hand and catched the smirk playing on Hyejin’s lips and then there she was…..  Wheein, smiling sweetly at her, with one of her hand rose to wave at her. 

The pony tail that she sported when Moonbyul dropped her at the Jung mansion was non-existent. Her gleaming blonde hair was loose around her shoulder, her little black dress set off her milky white skin beautifully and as she stood there with poised that could only be achieved by good old wealth breeding, Byul can’t help but smiled back at her.

* _H.O.L.Y.C.R.A.P. What just happened??_ *


	3. Chapter 3

“ **O** kay, so this is where we seat the paralegals, including the interns. You’ll be seating here with the rest of them.”

Moonbyul pointed at a neat empty table in the open area that seat eight paralegals and two interns, well, three now since Wheein will be joining them starting tomorrow.  

“You should get your laptop, the IT team already prepared one for you. They’re just around the corner and then one of my assistant will brief you on what we were working on. Any questions?”

“Yes. So, since you’ll be mentoring me, don’t you think it’s best if I just stationed inside your office? You know, so that I could learn better?” Wheein looked at Byul with a hopeful look on her face.

“Nope, no special treatment. I already told your dad that I will treat you just like I treat the other intern.”

“Which is... how?”

“Like they dont even exist. Invisible.”

Wheein blanched and looked at Moonbyul incredulously, “Wha... what? But how can we learn anything then?”

“You listen, you watch, you observe. Do you really think that you will get a step by step guidance? Now, go to the IT department and get your laptop. And... I’ll see you around. Maybe.” Moonbyul winked and gave Wheein’s head a gentle hit. “Welcome to the real world, kiddo.”

Moonbyul walked away from the incredulous puppy, whistling as she walked back into her office. Feeling happy since she just served a dose of reality check to the princess.

Her happiness evaporated when she walked into her office and saw Hyejin lounging on her couch.

“So... I’ve been doing some research. Apparently you and the new intern had some sort of history.”

Moonbyul scowled, “Seriously? I thought you said that you have so much work you practically breath legal documents, but you still have time to gossip about me?”

Hyejin tsked, her forefinger dancing and smirked, “Oho, you won’t get away with that tone. And I was not gossiping, I was researching. Different thing.”

Moonbyul rolled her eyes, flopping herself into her work chair, she promptly ignored the busy body. Sometime she just didn’t understand Hyejin and her unhealthy obsession with her love life.

“My sources told me that you used to babysit her when you were interning here and the baby developed a crush on you. I can’t believe you robbed the cradle.”

The platinum haired lawyer cringed, “Who have you been gossiping with? Honestly? Beside, I was not baby sitting, I was tutoring. And yes, she might have a crush on me, but I never encourage her.”

Hyejin laughed at Moonbyul’s obvious discomfort, “Dude, please, what do you call promising to date her when she’s older if not encouraging?”

Moonbyul raked her fingers through her hair and sighed, “She had confidence issues, okay? I was just trying to help. I told her that she is pretty and that if she gets even prettier I would have no choice but to date her. That was it! It was not as scandalous as you think! And oh my god, how could you think that I would date a 13 years old? I was 22 at the time! That’s... that’s....”

“Robbing the cradle? Being a cougar? The May to her December? Sheep Farming?” Hyejin listed with her fingers, all the while grinning at the look on Moonbyul’s face.

The latter put her hand up, “Stop. You’re more annoying than a five years old with a sugar rush.”

“Awww... but it was cute though, honestly. I think she still has a crush on you. It was pretty obvious.” Hyejin grinned and took out her phone, “I need to tell Yongsun about this, she will have a blast when she knew.”

“Leave Yongsun out of this. Beside, you know me. Do you really think that I will be attracted to a kid?”

Hyejin stopped her typing and looked up with a glint on her eyes, “You want to bet on that?”

Moonbyul crumpled a piece of paper and threw it to the younger woman direction, “Get out of here you punk! Go bother someone else.”

Hyejin avoided the paper ball with ease and laughed, “I’ll be careful if I were you, babe. The puppy... she seemed... persistent.”

She stood up then, smoothing her slightly wrinkled dress, “I’ll get out of your hair then.” She glided toward the door, paused and gave Moonbyul a wink, “for now.”

Moonbyul swore under her breath and once again cursed her best friend interest in her life.

 

***

“ **S** o, you’re the new intern.” A pretty young woman with a cat-like feature was sitting on her chair when Wheein got back from the IT department.

Smiling brightly, still hugging her new laptop, she extended her right hand for a handshake, “Hi, Jung Wheein. Nice to meet you, and you are?”

Seulgi glanced at the extended hand and sighed, “Okay, first of all, this is Korea, not America.” She stood up and bowed slightly, “You have to bow, even though the person in front of you is young. Korean greeting 101.”

“Ah, right, sorry. Force of habit. So, should I call you _Sunbae-nim_ as well?”

“For now.”Seulgi smirked and motioned for Wheein to put her laptop down. “I’m Miss Moon’s primary assistant, Seulgi. 2nd year lawyer here and I’am lumped with the rest of the junior lawyers in that room.” She pointed at the room next to the paralegal area and right in front of Moonbyul’s office.  “And... I will be your nanny.”

“Oh wow... you make me sound like a baby.”

Seulgi shrugged, “All interns are babies, they’re only good for helping you file papers and copying some legal documents and that’s it. But you, Miss NYU graduate, you’re not just any other intern.”

“Don’t tell me, I’m special because my father is the founding partner of this law firm?”

Seulgi noted the sarcastic undertone from the new girl and smirked. Gutsy, she liked it.

“Something like that. Okay, ground rules:

Rule number 1. Senior lawyers are always right.

Rule number 2. Be invisible. You would attend meetings if the senior lawyers asked you too. You will take notes. But that’s it. You may not speak. You may not give suggestions. You will only talk if spoken to.

Rule number 3. Even if you think that the senior lawyer is wrong? Remember Rule number 1. Any questions?”

“Be one with the wall and don’t be a smart ass. Got it.”

Seulgi laughed, “You’re alright, Miss NYU. I like you.”

“Awww, I like you too, _Sunbaenim_!”

Seulgi chuckled, “You might want to tone down the sarcasm though, you will never know who you will offend just by having a slightly disrespectful tone.”

“Thank you, I’ll try my best. I speak fluent sarcasm, I think my sarcasm is better than my Korean.” Wheein shrugged then grinned at the equally grinning young woman in front of her.  

“Alrighty, let me brief you on what Miss Moon is currently working on. And afterwards, I will introduce you to the other junior lawyers and the paralegals. Warning, some of the other junior lawyers will probably try to intimidate you because they are jealous. But I get the sense you're not easily intimidated."

"Well, being the daughter of the founding father has its perks."

Seulgi grinned, nodding with satisfaction, "That's the right attitude."

Wheein laughed then smiled warmly to her _sunbaenim,_ guess she’ll be making fast friend here.

***

 

 **C** overing her yawn with her hand, Wheein stirred her third cup of coffee. True to her words, Moonbyul locked herself inside her office and only went out for bathroom breaks or for meetings. Meetings which she didn’t need the interns’ help.

The young blond sighed and took her cup of coffee with her to her dad's office. Knocking softly and then peeking with only her head emerging from behind the door, she gave her father a big smile, "Can I come in?"

Looking up from his document, the fatherly looking man took off his reading glasses and motioned to his favorite daughter to come, "Since when you need permission to come to my office, princess?"

Wheein came in and closed the door behind her, "Since I officially interning here." She sat gingerly on the plush chair in front of her father's desk and sipped her coffee carefully.

"How's your first day going?"

"Well, I just found out how all of you lawyers really treat their intern."

The older man laughed, "By acting like they are invisible."

Wheein nodded and mock glared at her father, "Exactly!" She pouted slightly, “Byulyie unnie practically ignored me the whole day.”

“Well, I could talk to her if you want to.”

“No! No special treatment. We’re working on the same floor, it’s not like she could ignored me forever.”

Her father chuckled, “Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you. Byul can be quite the ice queen if she wanted to.” The older man then looked at Wheein with a serious expression on his face.

“Wheein-ah, why don’t you just settle down here? Why only interning when you can be an associate lawyer already? You know that me and your mother wish that you could move back to Korea for good.”

Wheein gripped her mug with both hand, relishing the warmth that suffused her cold fingers, “I know, but I’m still not sure what to do in life, Dad. Have you ever felt that way? Like you’re constantly searching for something to anchor you? Well, I’m still in that phase, so I hope that you and mother can be just a little bit patients with me.”

“Alright, alright, but this thing with Byul that you are currently doing... is it also part of searching for your anchor? Do you really want your anchor to be a person?”

“Oh wow, Dad. No. I mean, I do have a crush on her, yes. Will it go somewhere? I don’t know. Maybe. But there’s no way I will ever depend on a person ever again. I’ve learned my lesson.” Wheein shrugged and then smiled brightly when she saw the worried look on her father’s face.

“Aww... _Appa_ , don’t look at me like that. I’m having fun. That’s all.”

The older man sighed, “Would you blame this old man for being worried for his only child? I love Byul like my own daughter, but you ARE my daughter and she got quite the reputation.”

Wheein laughed, “Oh I know, that’s the fun in pursuing her. I desperately need to get laid.”

Old Jung face palmed at his daughter’s answer, “This! This is the reason why I regret sending you to America at such early age. That’s not the way to talk to older people, you little brat. I will send you to the monastery this summer! You will learn manners!” 

Wheein grinned and gave her father a kiss on his chubby cheek, “Said the person who actually took me to a gay bar after I came out. Now, finish whatever it was you were reading before I disturbed you. I have legal documents to copy and plan on how to get Byulyie unnie to notice me.”

“She would be blind if she didn’t notice my pretty daughter.”

Wheein laughed, “Be good and go home on time for dinner with mother, love you _Appa_.” The young blond gave her father another kiss before exiting the office and walked back to her own corner.

Yep, she definitely has many things to plan.


	4. Chapter 4

**M** oonbyul did not even looked up from her laptop when she heard someone opened her office door, figuring that it might just be the cleaning lady tidying up for the day. She never anticipated the move until two hands encircled her neck and a pair of soft lips brushed against the shell of her ear.

“Unnie... “

Heat spread across her face as her heart beat picked up, “Wha...”

Wheein let go of her hold and whirled Byul’s chair around, using both of her hands to trap the older woman in her seat.

“It’s 11 PM, everybody else went home already.” She then pointed at the packed meal that she put on Byul’s table.

“Courtesy of my mom, her exact words were ‘ _make sure that walking skeleton eat something, I swear even the slightest wind will knock her over_ ’.” Wheein imitated her mother’s voice to Moonbyul’s amusement and her stomach chooses that exact moment to growl.

Her blush deepened when Wheein chuckled lightly, “Uh, I guess I could eat something.”

The younger woman rolled her eyes, “Of course you could.” She leaned over the desk to retrieve the packed meal, opening the package to reveal rice with assortments of meat and side dishes. Moonbyul’s stomach growled again when the delicious smell reached her senses.

“Now be a good girl and bring your food to the sofa and eat.”

One perfectly shaped eyebrow raised, Moonbyul smirked at the adorable girl in front of her, “Did you just ordered me around? You do realize that I’m your boss, right?”

Wheein mock gasp before leaning forward, towering over the still sitting woman, “You do realize that it’s already way over office hour right, genius? Right now, you’re not my boss. I’m not your intern. We’re friends now, so shut up and eat up already.”

Moonbyul laughed, hand reached out to tuck a whisp of Wheein’s hair behind her ear, she smiled, “Fine, grumpy head. Geez, you’re bossier than your dad.”

“Of course I ‘am, my father has no mean bones on his body. I got my bossiness from my mother.” Wheein winked before grabbing hold on Byul’s hands and pull her out of the chair, “Seriously, do you put glue or something between your butt and the chair? No one and I mean, no one work more than you do in this entire building.”

Pushing Byul toward the couch, she brought the food to the table then sat beside the starving woman. A small smile adorning her pretty face as she watched Byul wolfed down the food in front of her.

“Good?”

Moonbyul, both cheeks full with food, glanced at the younger woman and nodded before continuing her effort to finish the food in world’s record.

Grinning, Wheein pulled out her phone from her pocket and snapped picture after picture of the other woman.

Blocking the phone with her hand, Byul chewed vigorously before gulping down, “Ya! What are you doing?” hand massaging her own chest from the effort it took to gulp down such amount of food.

“Isnt it obvious? I’m taking picture of you.”

Walking toward the small fridge hidden on the cabinet near her desk, Byul took out two bottled water. Giving one to Wheein, she finished hers off in a few second. “Why would you take pictures of me?”

“Evidence. The world needs to know that the Mighty Moonbyul looked like a cute hamster when she’s eating.”

Eating in a slower pace after she satiated her hunger, Moonbyul simply shook her head, “Mighty Moonbyul?”

“That’s just one of your nicknames by the way.” Wheein grinned before motioning to Byul that she wants one of the meat. Chuckling, Byul feed the happy puppy.

Chewing slowly, Wheein pointed at Byul, “So, tell me unnie, is it true that you broke almost all the women’s heart in this office?”

“Hyejin will eat you alive if you dare asking her if I ever broke her heart.”

“The operative word here is ‘ _almost’_. Not ‘ _all’_. I might only join this law firm less than 24 hours ago, but even I know that Hyejin sunbaenim is not to be messed with.”

Moonbyul nodded, “She’ll eat you for breakfast.”

“Really? So she likes eating interns for breakfast?” Wheein smirked, “Interesting.”

Moonbyul choked on her chicken, “Wait, are we talking about the same kind of eating?” Looking at the smirk on Wheein’s face, Byul groaned, “Never mind. Ugh, I’m full. Tell your mom thank you for the food, it was really kind of her.”

“She’s been feeding you on and off since you were interning here, It was nothing. AND, you’re deflecting! You haven’t answered my question.”  A soft slap landed on Byul’s arm as the puppy tried to look menacing and failed miserably.

Trying with all of her might, Moonbyul can’t help but melt a little at the cuteness that Wheein showed.

“I never mix business with pleasure. That’s all that I’m going to say.”

Wheein tilted her head a little, looking at Byul with unreadable expression, making the latter slowly and surely became self-conscious, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing, you’re just beautiful.” Wheein answered nonchalantly. “On to the next question then, is it true that people actually signed up as clients just to be able to see you?”

Moonbyul barked a laugh, “I think I know who you’ve been talking to, Seulgi need to learn to keep her mouth shut.”

“Eish Unnie, do you really think that Seulgi _sunbae_ is my only source of information. You underestimated your legendary status in this law firm then. Want me to do a recap?”

Interest piqued, Moonbyul motioned with her hand for the younger woman to go ahead, “Do I need a drink to hear your recap?”

“You have something heavy?” Wheein waggled her eyebrow and Moonbyul chuckled.

“That bad?”

“Not really, I just want a drink, that’s all.”

Thinking that a round of stiff drink would not hurt anyone, Moonbyul once again walked toward her desk and produced two tumbler glass and a 21 years old Hibiki whiskey, “Hibiki alright?”

She poured a decent amount and handed over one to the eager puppy, who finished the glass off in a heartbeat.

Nodding, Wheein patted the seat right next to her, “Come here, you might want to sit down for this. No? Suit yourself.  So, do you know that you have a fan club? Like, an honest to god, with paying member fan club? The secretaries and receptionists set it up, and I’m pretty sure only the senior partners and Hyejin _sunbaenim_ who were not a member.”

“And you know this how?” sipping her drink slowly while smiling with disbelief, Moonbyul watched on, almost transfixed by the light of mischief playing on Wheein’s brown eyes, * _she has a beautifully expressive eyes...._ *

“I joined of course! I even bought the goodies, 2 photo books of you.”

Almost chocking on her drink, Byul just stared blankly on the suddenly concerned puppy, “Excuse me?”

“Photo books. Well, they have T-shirt with ‘ _Gay for Moonbyul_ ’ written on it but I came out from the closet so long ago, and not just for you, so the point is moot. Oh! They also have this cute coffee cup with level of hotness, with the scalding hot level changed into your name. What else? Hmmm... Stationary, posters, calendar, and many more I think, remind me to ask them again tomorrow.”

“And you... bought two of the photo books? Where do they take the pictures from?” brain already running in full gear, making possible new rules in the office, what the hell were they thinking?

“Don’t even think about reprimanding them! It was harmless! They took picture of you around the office, you just too dense to realize it. And yes, I bought two. One for looking at your beautiful pictures and the other one to draw on, since sometimes you can be super annoying! Like today! You ignored me the whole day, so I drawn a devil horn on one of your picture!” Wheein stick out her tongue at the dumbstruck Moonbyul and finished off her drink in a flash.

“This is really good stuff.” Topping off her glass once more, the young woman leaned back on the couch and looked at the still dumbfounded lawyer.

“All the paralegal thought you walk on water. That is when you decided to bestowed them with one of your chivalrousness. The junior lawyers practically hero worship you and thought that your words are the law holy bible and that you can’t do no wrong. So, there! Do you want to hear anything else, your royal lawyer-ness?” smiling sweetly, Wheein almost laughed at the disbelieving look that seem to took permanent resident on Byul’s face.

“You’re joking right? Tell me you’re just pulling my leg.”

Wheein shook her head no and Moonbyul groaned out loud, “What were they thinking??”

“It’s not a bad thing, unnie. I think it was rather cool that you could charm all of them like that. So, the part that you actually gained clients just by smiling at them, that’s also true right?”

“What! No! We provide the best law services possible, do you actually think that smiling will win cases??”

Frustrated, she finished off her drink and adds another round to her tumbler, already making up her mind to set a meeting and to address this non-sense. She can’t have the partners think that she all she had to do was smile and ... a cold hand pressed against her right cheek and Byul startled to see that Wheein already stood in front of her.

“Hey, don’t assume that they didn’t think highly of your skill. I mean, Taehyung practically showered you with praises from here to high heaven. And my father....” Wheein smile, a blindingly serene smile that almost took Byul’s breath away.

“My father always said that you are one of the treasures that he would never exchange for the world, and he thank God everyday that you decided to intern and work here. I mean... if I didn’t know better, I would think that my dad would rather have you as his daughter, that way he won’t have to think about who will succeed this law firm for him.” Her smile turned sad and it was Moonbyul’s turn to tapped Wheein’s head softly.

“Don’t be stupid, your father can’t be more proud of you. He practically threw a party when you were elected valedictorian when you were graduated.”

Smiling softly, Wheein circled her arms around Byul’s neck and touched their forehead together, “And my mom sent me pictures of both of you together when they appointed you as the youngest partner here. Do you remember? He has his arms around you like a proud father.”

Moonbyul nodded, smiling at the happy memory that suddenly took her over. Tightening her hold on the young woman’s body, they stood there in a companionable silence and Moonbyul realized that she miss the tiny human being that used to cheer her up when she was still a self-doubting young intern.

“Okay, enough of this mellowness! I demand you to take me around Seoul! It’s been ages since I went back home and I haven’t even seen the night scenes in my own home-town. That’s just not right.”

“Now? You want me to take you out now?” Moonbyul laughter died on her throat when she suddenly realized that the young woman in her arms already changed out her little black dress and instead wearing a red and black checkered flannel shirt with two of the top button undone, tucked into a very little very short black jeans.

_*It should be a crime to look that good in jeans short.*_

Moonbyul’s train of thought was cut short when Wheein’s cheerful voice reached her momentarily short circuited brain.

“What’s wrong with now? It’s only... 12.15 AM. The night is still young. Don’t tell me that you already tired? Getting old aren’t we?”

“Why, you little brat!” Moonbyul tousled the protesting but laughing Wheein’s hair, “Fine! But I will have you back at your parent’s house at the latest 2 AM. Deal?”

“We could always go back to your place.” Wheein batted her eyelashes and Moonbyul groaned again.

“Behave! Or I will drive you to your parent’s right away.”

Wheein tsk-ed at her, “You really need to chill, unnie. Come on, let’s go before you turned into a hamster by 2 AM.” Dragging Byul by her hands, the older of the two could only followed obediently, resigning her fate to the younger woman’s hand.

***

 

 **M** oonbyul had no idea how they ended up in one of the hippest night club in Itaewon, but there they were, standing at the bar with beer in each of their hand.

Her eyes roamed the swanky establishment and stopped when she saw two young girls, yes definitely girls, no women in their right mind would be or should be that loud. She noticed the way they dressed, low cut top ending at mid-drift, leaving their stomach bare for everybody to see, with barely there short showcasing their bare legs. She noticed the way they grinded against each other body, moving to the sound of R&B music that was blaring all around them, enjoying every minute of it, knowing for sure that everyone would be looking at them.

Those sight used to turn her on, now? She just want to bundled them all up with blankets and tell them to go home.  

What she didn’t realize was, when she was busy people watching, another pair of eyes were fixated on her. Wheein looked at Byul, standing there with beer on her hand, dressed with her trade mark black fitted blazer, crisp white shirt and tight fitting black slack. Moonbyul was beautiful. She noticed the look that Byul received, admiring look from the girls and some from the boys, both admiring and jealous at the same time at the attention that Byul received from the girls. Moonbyul sure was a chick magnet anywhere she went.

Feeling bold, Wheein purposely kiss Byul on the cheek, “Hey babe...” Wheein whispered before winking at Byul who looked shock before noticing Wheein’s playfulness, “Dance with me.”

Leaving their beers on the bar, Wheein dragged Moonbyul by the hand. The lawyer followed willingly as she felt the soft and warm hand of Wheein interlaced with hers, gaze interlocking as Wheein slowly backed up onto the dance floor.

Never breaking their eyes contact, Wheein placed one of her hand on the back of Byul’s neck as her other hand pulled Byul’s hip toward her, moving slowly against the music’s beat.

Moonbyul’s breath catches on her throat when she felt Wheein’s hand caressed her side slowly, leaving goose bumps on her wake, to interlace her hands together on the back of Byul’s neck. Pressing their body impossibly close.

Even though they were clothed, the sensation of having Wheein that close was playing havoc with her mind. Her hand unconsciously went toward the young woman’s hip, pulling her even closer.

Caught up in the moment, Moonbyul didn’t realized that Wheein already insinuated her thigh between her legs until she felt it rubbing against her center, “Fuck...” Moonbyul whispered as she felt Wheein pushed her thigh harder, and their body pressed against each other fully, her breath hot against Moonbyul’s neck.

Wheein lifted her head, her eyes dark with want and she licked her lips softly. Moonbyul watched as Wheein’s tongue slowly moved against her plump lower lips, leaving a glistening trail. Almost moaning at the sight, and the hot breath on her ears that followed, “Unnie...” the soft plea was almost her undoing.

Dropping her head on Wheein’s shoulder, she took a raged breath to control her rising lust. She was so turn on, she can feel the heat beating between her legs. It was intoxicating. This little minx on her arms was intoxicating. Raising her head, Moonbyul’s breath catches when she saw the flushed face of the young woman, staring at her with her pupil fully blown black with lust. Wheein broke their eye contact and stared at Moonbyul’s lips.

“Wheein....” Byul leaned her forehead against the petite woman, both breathing heavily, “I think we should go home.” Gathering whatever self control that was still left within her, Moonbyul detangled herself from Wheein’s embrace, reaching toward the younger woman’s hand, she interlaced their fingers together and pulled Wheein gently toward the front door.

She couldn’t bear to see Wheein’s face, she briefly saw the disappointment written all over her face, but she knew that a moment more in that dance floor and she would not be able to control herself. She would make a mistake of kissing the young woman, or worse. Remembering the pulse that slowly but surely turned into a dull ache between her legs, she knew that it won’t end with a kiss.

The ride to Wheein’s parent house was thick with tension as silence descent upon them. Moonbyul gripped the steering wheel tightly and debated with herself on whether or not to start a conversation with the mostly silent Wheein.

She didn’t realize that she held her breath, until she finally breathes a little easier when they reached the Jung mansion.

“Walk me to the front door?”

Moonbyul nodded and left the car, she opened to passenger door and took Wheein’s hand. Climbing side by side up the short stairs to the front door, the older woman fidget uncomfortably, unsure of what to say.

“Whee....” her sentences was cut short by a pair of soft lips crushing against her lips. She gasped and Wheein used that moment to slide her tongue inside. Byul could taste the bitterness of the whiskey on Wheein’s tongue, yet, she also tastes so sweet. Groaning at the sensation, Moonbyul gave up and kissed Wheein back with equal fervor, fingers tangling on the blonds’ soft hair to deepen their kiss.

Breaking their kiss, Wheein captured Byul’s lower lips between her teeth and bit softly, “Whatever it is you’re thinking, it’s not over.”  Stealing another quick but deep kiss, Wheein pushed the disoriented Byul away and quickly tapped the security code before entering the house, leaving an aroused and confused Byul standing there on the front door of her house.

***

 

 **M** oonbyul crashed on her sofa, sighing deeply as her hand pressed number one on her speed dial. A soft voice answered her call after only ringing for a while.

“Hey babe, are you asleep? No... It’s okay, Its just... I just need to hear your voice. That’s all. Why are you still awake? Yeah, I just got home. No... Work is fine. Yes, sweetheart, I’m taking care of myself, you know that. Do you think you could drop by? Yes, tomorrow would be fine. Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then, love you.”

Moonbyul sighed and closed her eyes tightly, the image of Wheein’s flushed face and the kiss swirling inside of her mind.

_*Damn you, Jung Wheein.....*_


	5. Chapter 5

“Byul! Hey Byul! EARTH TO MOON BYUL YI!” Hyejin snapped her fingers repeatedly in front of Byul’s face and only after she slightly yelled did she get a reaction.

They were having their usual breakfast and a shot of caffeine at the deli situated on the ground floor of their skyscraper building. But unlike the usual, Moonbyul had been quiet. Even quieter than her usual quiet self and it sort of freaking Hyejin’s out.

“Something on your mind? You’ve been acting like a zombie, and its not even mid-day yet. What’s up?”

The memory of soft lips moving against her own invaded her mind once again, and she nearly cursed out loud. _*This is getting ridicilous, I’m not a teenager and it’s not the first time I kissed a woman, what kind of spell did she put on me?*_

“Okay, that’s it. I’m taking you to the doctor. There’s obviously something wrong with you. I dont know what, but it’s something.” Hyejin quickly scrolled through her contact list, looking for the name of the doctor that she dated a long time ago.

“Whatever it was you were doing, stop. There’s nothing wrong with me.”

Hyejin paused and looked at Byul questioningly, “Nope. There’s definitely something. You acted weirder than usual.... OMG! Did you sleep with a client or something???”

The platinum blond lawyer grimaced at the mentioned of sex and Hyejin’s eyes widened in horror.

“I swear to whoever listening up there, Byul... if you slept with a client, you are so dead!”

Annoyance spread across Moonbyul’s face, “Seriously? That’s your first thought? That I slept with a client?”

Hyejin shrugged, ignoring the annoyed look that Byul thrown her way, “Can you blame me? You basically have every women that ever met you in the palm of your hand.”

“Are you trying to be funny? Cause if my memory serves me well, I could barely get you to stop annoying me.”

Hyejin sighed, her face turning serious, “Okay, enough joking around. Something obviously bothering you, is it something about Yongsun? Only something related to Yongsun that could get your panties twisted like that, but I just got off the phone with her this morning and she seems fine so that’s definitely not it. But as your best friend, this....” she gestured toward the sulking Moonbyul, “I’m getting worried and I dont get worried very often. So, talk to me.”

Byul raked her fingers through her hair and sighed, “Do you still need another assistant? What do you think about mentoring Wheein for the rest of her intership?”

The short haired woman blinked, then grin spread across her face, “So this is about that little puppy? Really? You got all emotional like a teenager, sulking and being a walking zombie because of that little pup? REALLY?”

“Do you want the content of my cup to be all over you?” Moonbyul looked at her best friend and colleagues with the utmost intent to pour her coffee to wiped the evil grin off her face.

Hyejin tapped her well manicured fingers on the table, still disbelieving that the petite young woman could reduced the mighty Moon Byul Yi to this warped version of herself.

“Okay, lets say that I take the pup off your hand, what will you get me?”

Moonbyul sat up straight in an instant, “Really? You will get my undying love for the rest of your life.”

“Oh you got it bad.... you got it so, so bad....”

Moonbyul groaned, cursing herself for walking into Hyejin’s trap. “Fuck you. Ah crap, I have a meeting with potential client in 5. And no, whatever it was you were thinking? No.” She stood up, glared once again to the laughing Hyejin and walked purposely toward the elevator.

***

 

“ _Psst_!”

Wheein looked up from her laptop to see Seulgi pointing at the walking Moonbyul, before shooing the younger girl with her hand to hurry up. The blonde quickly grabbed her notebook and almost ran after the lawyer toward the meeting room.

Words around the office were, Moonbyul was in a very dark mood. Wheein noted the rigidness of Byul’s shoulder, the dark ‘ _don’t mess with me_ ’ aura that seemed to permeate the air around her and wondered to herself whether she went too far last night.

The petite girl quickened her steps when she saw Moonbyul already entered the room and held her breath as she slipped between the almost closed door. She let out a silent breath, relieved when she successfully slipped inside without being noticed and closed the door quietly behind her.

Inside the meeting room stood a gorgeous looking woman. As irrational as it might sound, Wheein felt an instant dislike toward the woman.

Wheein watched as Moonbyul politely greeted the woman, who introduced herself as Kyungri, before offering her to sit down on the plush sofa. She watched with fascination as Byul’s transformed in front of her eyes. Gone was the scowl that was permanently etched on Byul’s face since morning, replaced with a warm and smiling face of a professional lawyer.

The platinum haired lawyer listened attentively to the case at hand, head nodding at appropriate moment without interjecting. Apparently, their potential client was a model and had difficulties to break her current contract with her modeling agency.

Hand busy jotting down the key points of the case, Wheein didn’t missed the appreciative look that Moonbyul gave their potential client and desperately fight the urge to roll her eyes and an even bigger urge to slap some sense into Byul. What was that woman thinking? Looking at a potential client like that!?

“Thank you for your consideration to engage our law firm, of course we will need to take further look into your modeling contract before we could give you a throughout legal opinion. My assistant....” Byul stopped when she saw that it was Wheein who was sitting on the single arm chair behind her, instead of Seulgi.  Her word died on her lips as their gaze locked until she broke their eye contact and smiled once more toward the potential client.

“My assistant here would take your contact number and do the follow up for the contract and such. We could give you a preliminary legal opinion if you wanted, so that you could have an idea of what you’re dealing with before signing the engagement letter with our law firm.”

“I don’t mind signing the engagement letter now, my friend recommended you and I trust my friend’s judgment.”

“Well, I would have to treat your friend to dinner then.” Byul smiled smoothly and Wheein’s grip on her pen tightened.

“If you don’t mind, we could set up a dinner meeting, as a thank you of course, for taking on my case and we could discuss the problems more?” Kyungri looked at Byul tentatively.

Wheein chanced a look at the potential client and noticed the faint pink adorning the woman’s beautiful face and knew that the woman had already been spelled by Moonbyul’s charm. * _Great.... just... great....._ * She counted until three to control her irritation and hoped that her poker face was still intact.

“Unfortunately my schedules are rather full today, thank you for the invitation. Rest assured that you are in a very capable hand and we would help you get through this.”

“Oh... I’m sure you are very... _capable_.” The beautiful woman smiled at Byul and Wheein almost swear that she saw her eyelashes fluttered.  _*did she just flirt with Byul???*_

Instead of answering, Moonbyul smiled and stood up. Bowing slightly toward the woman, she thanked her again for considering the law firm, prompting the woman to stand up as well.

“If you would excuse me for a moment, I need to have a few words with my assistant. Do you want another refreshment?” she gestured toward the half finished ice tea on the table.

“Thank you for your hospitality, but I will just take my leave now. Do you have any paper that I could borrow?” She looked at Byul expectantly, to which Wheein quickly offered her note book instead.

Without sparing another second glance toward Wheein, the woman quickly scribbled her phone number and ripped the paper out of Wheein’s notebook.

She gave the note book and the piece of paper to Byul, “Here’s my personal phone number, please feel free to call me anytime.”

Smiling, Moonbyul nodded and opened the meeting room door, “Of course, my assistant will contact you as soon as possible. Let me walk you to the lobby.” She then looked at Wheein, and the young woman almost shivered from the cold gaze directed at her.

“Wheein-ssi, if you could just wait here for a moment.” Without waiting for Wheein’s response, Moonbyul quickly turned around. Once again smiling warmly at their potential client, she gestured for the woman to follow her.

Chewing on her lips softly, Wheein tried her best to temper her rising annoyance, _*What the hell was that?*_

 

Lost in her own thought, she nearly jumped when she heard Moonbyul almost slammed the door shut, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Excuse me?” Wheein fought the urge to cross her arms in front of her, knowing instinctively that any kind of defensive movement would only aggravated Byul more.

“Why are you attending this meeting instead of Seulgi? Like I asked you before, what do you think you were doing? If you think that you could do anything you wanted just because you are the partner’s daughter, then here’s a news flash princess, you can’t!”

Wheein looked at Byul with utter disbelief, “Well, excuse me Miss Moon, but your primary assistant is currently juggling 2 affidavits, the one that you told her to finish in an hour if you are sadly forgotten. Not to mention the draft motion that you need to submit before the end of today’s business hour. So, if she thought that I have enough IQ in my brain to simply jot down notes during a meeting with a potential client, then yes! Something is very wrong, not with me, but with you!”

“That supposed to be my decision, not hers! And she could simply asked the other junior lawyer to stand in for her in this meeting, not sending an intern!”

Sending Byul an _‘are you kidding me?’_ look, Wheein stormed passed Byul only to have her arm grabbed by the older woman, “I’m not finished talking to you.”

Shrugging off Byul’s hold, Wheein glared at her, “Well I’am! Now this is me, acting like the partner’s daughter and since I had enough of this nonsense, I better get back to work on something other than entertaining this ridiculous notion of yours!” 

Wheein opened the door in a quick motion, letting the door closed on its own as she stomped down the hall toward the open area, cursing Moonbyul silently to the deepest pit of hell.

Unbeknown to her, Moonbyul quickly followed her footsteps and her longer stride quickly catches up to her shorter one. Grabbing hold onto Wheein’s arm once more, she almost dragged the younger woman toward the junior lawyer’s station.

“Kang Seul-gi!”

Startled, Seulgi looked up from the numerous documents scattered all over her desk. Her hair was in a messy bun and her glasses were slightly skewed when she looked up, and immediately came face to face with two stormy faces, * _Uh Oh_....*

“Never ever send an intern to a meeting like that, understood? Now, I don’t care if this one has special privilege, but I will not have another intern standing in for a junior lawyer in my meeting. If you think that you can’t juggle your work, consult with me, but don’t ever do that again.”

Wheein gritted her teeth, this is getting out of hand and Byul was being unreasonable. She was about to snap when the voice of her father caused all heads to look at the door.

“Ah Byul, could I borrow Seulgi for a minute? I want her to looked through the due diligence list for the AP Project.”

“Uh, I need her for my next meeting, the telecom dispute.”

The Old Jung smiled then, and nodded his head toward Wheein, “Well, I’m pretty sure you could take Wheein to that meeting.”

“Dad... I mean, Senior Partner Jung, sir, why don’t I help you with the due diligence and Seulgi sunbaenim can go with Miss Moon?” Wheein almost cannot hide the venom in her voice when she spoke of the older woman’s name and pray to the higher being that her dad wont noticed.

“Oh no...no... This is a great opportunity for you to observe and learn from the best. Come now Seulgi, off to my office please.”

Looking back and forth between her immediate superior and the senior partner, Seulgi hesitantly followed the Old Jung back to his office.

“Well, you heard your _dad_.”

Wheein wished she could slap the sneer off Byul’s face, but instead, she simply reached out her hand, “My note book.”

Moonbyul looked at the note book in her hand and passed it to Wheein, who still looked at her expectantly.

“And the paper with the phone number on it, unless you want to call her and actually accept her invitation for _dinner_.”

The older woman scowled and gave the piece of paper to Wheein as well, “I was about to give them to Seulgi before your dad....”

“Not my business.” Wheein cut her words short and walked pass the stilled woman, who simply closed her eyes and not for the first time today wondered what the hell is wrong with her.

She opened her eyes only to be greeted by curious pairs of eyes watching her, “Don’t you all have work to do!?” she barked her question and pivoted on her feet, hearing people quickly scrambling to resume their work.

***

 

The telecom dispute was a pretty complicated case involving too many parties in Byul’s opinion. Representing the land owner, it was pretty clear cut on her side. Unfortunately, the other parties still cant reach any agreement in so many things and she could feel that the negotiation would reached a stand still soon if they wont compromise on certain things.

She was getting weary from all of the arguments going back and forth between the other parties legal representatives. To make matter worse, she could feel Wheein’s eyes on her throughout the meeting. It was unnerving.

Raising her hand to stop the escalating arguments, Moonbyul addressed the other people in the room “Look, we’ve been at it for nearly 3 hours and we still have.....” she flipped over the settlement agreement in front of her and grimaced, “approximately another 60 pages to run through. Let’s just take a lunch break and think over some of the things, I think some sort of compromise would be necessary from each side. My client’s offer still stand, if E-Coms pay the outstanding land lease, we will lifted the barricades around the land. We could make a separate agreement and E-Coms could at least settle this particular dispute. Think about it.”  

Voices raised, each representatives talking over each other and Byul was once again forced to be the voice of reason. In the end, they all agreed to continue the meeting in the next two weeks.

 

“Wheein, with me.” Moonbyul said after she finished sending off their client, walking purposely toward her own office.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Wheein dragged her feet toward the older woman’s office, wondering what else that Byul could possibly want from her now.

“Close the door.” Ordered Byul as she tossed the settlement agreement onto her desk. She folded her arms across her chest as she stared at the young woman with an unreadable expression. “You were staring at me the entire meeting. You are supposed to observe, learn something out of it, or at least use the time to familiarize yourself with the case. If you think that interning here is just some sort of way to pass your time, or that this is all fun and game, maybe you should rethink your decision to intern here.”

Wheein stared at her, her rising anger battling with her frustration with the situation. Her frustration won, “We need to talk about this. Is this because of the kiss? Is this why you’ve been acting like a bitch all day long?”

“No. I refuse to talk about anything else not related to the pending case. I’m reprimanding you for one thing and one thing alone, your attitude. You’re not focusing on the job.”

Wheein could feel her blood pressure rise as her anger overrode her manners and logical thoughts. She walked over to where Byul was standing and stepped into her personal space, “That’s bullshit and both of us know it.”

Moonbyul took a step back, away from the glaring young woman. She could feel the heat coming off from Wheein’s skin and caught the scent of her perfume, a soft flowery scent that made her want to reach out and buried her nose onto the smaller woman’s slender neck.

“You got it wrong, oh your excellency, I’ve been paying attention.” Wheein leaned closer toward Byul, her dark eyes glinted with the anger that she buried since morning, “Our client leased their land to E-Com since 2008. In 2010, E-Com subleased it to Sat-Tower to build a communication tower. In additional to yearly rent, Sat-Tower agreed to pay E-Com with 10% of its profit. Sat-Tower has a cooperation agreement with K-Telecom.....”

Moonbyul stopped listening to Wheein’s perfect summation of the case, her concentration distracted by the quick rise and fall of Wheein’s chest. She felt her own heart rate increase at their close proximity, and as she watched the flush of anger on Wheein’s face, the memory of last night came tumbling down and her stomach clenched at the sudden desire that coursed through her, driving her crazy.

**_Fuck it all to hell_ _!_ **

Her long fingers wrapped themselves around the back of Wheein’s neck, pulling the younger woman closer before her demanding lips crushed Wheein’s lips in a forceful kiss. She felt a brief hesitation from the petite body that she held against her own, but it was gone as their mouth meet again in a violent clash of lips and teeth, fueled by lust and the day’s frustration.

Wheein tilted her head to deepen the kiss and moaned when Byul’s tongue slip inside. Lips’ moving against lips, their tongues battled for dominance. Liquid heat coursed through her vein, as the familiar ache begin to build in her lower abdomen. Desperately need to feel Moonbyul’s bare skin, Wheein yanked Byul’s shirt out of the slack that she was wearing before sliding her palm across Byul’s abdomen, causing the stomach muscle to tighten and the older woman groaned.

Brushing Wheein’s blazer off her shoulder and onto the floor, Moonbyul slide her hand down the younger’s woman back possesively before cupping the blond’s perfect ass tightly, pulling her forward until their breasts brushed againts each other. Tongues still battling for dominance, a deep moan tore through Wheein’s lips when Byul ran her palm over her already swollen nipple and cup her breast. Not wanting to be outdone, her own fingers desperately undoing the rest of the buttons of Byul’s shirt.

Sliding her hand down further under Wheein’s dress, she slide her hand back up smooth thigh before lifting the petite woman without breaking their kiss and laid her down firmly on top of her desk, sending everything the lawyer was working on to scatter on the floor. 

Gasping for breath, Wheein tilted her head back as she allowed Byul’s lips to trail down her neck. Lost in the sensation of Byul’s lips and tongue alternately working on her neck, Wheein locked her legs around Byul’s hips pulling her even closer until Byul almost laying on top of the younger woman. 

“Fuck....” Wheein’s groaned out loud when Byul bit the juncture between her neck and her shoulder. The dirty word spoken in Wheein’s husky voice caused alarm to go off inside Byul’s head and the older woman felt her chest tightened as a rush of panic filled her. Untangling herself from the younger woman’s embrace, Byul quickly back off from the desk.

 

“Unnie?”

She could hear the confuse tone in Wheein’s voice, but the sound of her own wildly pounding heart filled her ear and drowned everything out. Raking her fingers through her slightly messy hair, she quickly buttoned up her shirt, turning away from the hurt look on Wheein’s face.

Wheein cursed and jumped off from the table, straightening her dress, she picked up her blazer and shrugged it on, “You have got to be kidding me. Do you always run hot and cold like this? What is the matter with you?”

“I... I’m sorry I just can’t do this... not with you....”

“You’re joking right? You’re 5 seconds away from fucking me on your desk!”

“I know! And I shouldn’t have!” Byul whirled around, finally facing the younger woman.

Their eyes met in a battle of will, Wheein’s blazing with anger and humiliation, “You’re so full of shit.”

Moonbyul’s jaw tightened but she held her ground and they simply stared at each other. Both at a lost of what to say.

The quiet moment was broken when Byul’s office door suddenly burst open, followed by, “Hey babe, ready for lunch?”

Startled, both Moonbyul and Wheein glared at the new comer who lingered on the door.

“Whoops, sorry. Am I interrupting something? I can go back later if you’d like...” asked the woman, unsure of what to do when she saw the awkward atmosphere surrounding the room.

“No, no, babe... come in. We’re just finishing off our meeting, that’s all.” Byul smiled and reached out her hand toward the lovely woman. At the mention of the terms of endearment, Wheein’s head whipped up and looked curiously at the woman at Byul’s door.

The woman whom Byul called ‘ _babe’_ walked inside the office to stand at Byul’s side, wrapping her arm casually around Byul’s waist. With the two of them standing there side by side, the woman’s knee length yellow dress against Byul’s black power suit,  Wheein cant help but think that they’re like night and day, and not just because of their clothing.

She almost has the same height as Byul, while both of them are slender, the woman has softer features compared to Byul’s toned figure. And where Byul exudes confidence, power and coolness,  the woman radiates warmth, gentleness and serenity. The only thing that was similar were their beautiful long hair and even so, Byul wears her platinum blond hair straight while the woman’s dark tresses cascaded wavily down her back. The two of them looked good together.

Wheein watched as the woman whispered something on Byul’s ear and she felt a twinge of pain when she saw that intimate gesture. She missed the scowl that passed through Byul’s face fleatingly until Moonbyul cleared her throat and introduced the woman.

“Wheein-ssi, this is Yongsun.  Yongsun, this is Wheein, the Old Jung’s daughter. Enough with introduction, let’s go to lunch.” Byul almost forcefully trying to steer Yongsun toward the door, but the dark haired woman resisted.

“Ya! What’s the rush? I havent even greet the pretty girl properly. _Anyeonghaseyeo_ , nice to meet you.” Yongsun bowed her head slightly and smiled brightly toward the younger woman who awkwardly bowed back, whispering a soft ‘ _nice to meet you_ ’ as well.

“So you’re interning here? For Byul here? I hope my Byulyie didn’t bother you too much. She can be very challenging.”

Wheein grimaced, her hand subconciously smoothing her hair in a nervous habit, “Uh no, I mean I was just interning here for 2 days, so...”

“Ah... I see, you could tell me if she’s giving you a hard time, and I will spank her for you.”

Wheein laughed bitterly and shook her head, “I dont think that would be a problem, my father probably going to shuffle me around to intern for the other senior lawyer, to give me different exposures to the business of course. So I probably wont be interning for Miss Moon for long. If you will excuse me, I still have other things to do....” Wheein bowed and started to walk toward the door when Moonbyul’s voice stopped her.

“Wheein, we’re not done here.”

Unwilling to turn around, Wheein’s grip on the door handle tightened, “Yes, I think we are.” She said softly before flinging the door open to leave.

Moonbyul watched Wheein leave, barely able to keep herself from going after the young blond. Groaning and cursing herself, she came face to face with an accusing gaze from Yongsun, who watched the interplay between the two women with interest.

“Byul... What did you do?”

 


	6. Chapter 6

The Lounge is a swanky establishment in the business district of Seoul, swarming with men and women in business suits and cocktail dresses. Their mindless chatter provided a different buzz from the soft jazzy music playing in the background. The two women were seated in their usual spot at the corner in the back, creating a sanctuary from any other prying eyes.

“So, do you want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?” Byul pushed around the salmon steak in front of her, not really having an appetite.

Yongsun rolled her eyes and gave Byul a knowing glare, “Your lips were swollen, your shirt was rumpled, your hair was messy and you have this glassy look on your eyes. Wheein? She was in almost the exact same state as you. Plus, I saw the papers scattered all over the floor. Did you two do it on your table??” Yongsun eyes widened and Byul cringed.

“Almost...” she whispered dejectedly and sighed, “It’s complicated....”

Yongsun looked at Byul weirdly, “Honey, there’s nothing complicated about sex, it’s either your do it, or you don’t. Oh! Please don’t tell me you two didn’t do it because of me, am I being like a _you-know-what_ blocker for both of you? Ya! You shouldn’t have told me to come to the office during lunch then!”

Moonbyul looked at the flustered Yongsun like she just grew another head and bit her lips to contain her laugher, “Okay first of all, my darling heart, you can’t be my _you-know-what_ blocker, since I don’t have a _you-know-what_....”

“It’s a euphemism!” cut Yongsun, throwing both of her hands up and air quoting with her fingers for emphasis, which Byul blatantly ignored.

“.... and she’s the Old Jung daughter, so she’s definitely off limit.”

“You have a limit? Wow... have I’d been transported into another alternate universe or something?”

Moonbyul glared at the grinning Yongsun, “You and Hyejin, ya! How could both of you think that I will just sleep with anything that have two legs?”

The dark haired woman rolled her eyes and gave Byul a pointed look, “Could you blame us? Babe, you changed women faster than I change my underwear!”

Moonbyul snorted and shrugged. See, the thing is dating is not really Byul’s forte. She doesn’t date, she... well to be truthfully frank, she fucks. Plain and simple. No string attached. No headaches.

“Wheein... she’s just... off limit, okay? She’s not like the other women that I picked up. She’s.... I just don’t want to hurt her and I can’t give her what she wants.”

Yongsun’s face turned somber, “About that, I think you already did hurt her. What happened?”

Byul sighed, “I kissed her.”

“Oh, I think you did more than just kiss her. You stopped didn’t you? And not just because I barged in into the office, it’s that stupid off limit thing that stopped you isn’t it?”

Byul tapped her beer bottle with her thumbnail, creating a rapid _tap tap tap_ before ever so quietly whispered, ‘yeah’ she then looked at Yongsun and found herself looking at the sad expression on Yongsun’s face.

“You care for her.”

The platinum haired lawyer shrugged then nodded, “I knew her since she was a teenager, she’s not a stranger and she was so nice to me back then.” Byul smiled at the memory of the small ball of energy that was the teenage Jung Wheein.

“I was unsure of myself back then, I think a part of me didn’t think that I was smart enough. She was the one that asked her father to have me tutor her.” Byul shook her head, smiling slightly, “That kid was a genius, she didn’t any tutoring, but she asked anyway.”

“She wants to be close to you.” Yongsun found herself smiling indulgently at the cute memory.

“I think it’s her way of showing me that I’m good enough? She picked my brain like nobody ever did. I missed her like crazy when she was sent off to America. But then life happened, I was busy with work, she was busy with school. We lost contact along the way....”

“And now, she’s back in town, not a teenager anymore. She definitely likes you, and you ARE attracted to her, right???”

Byul chuckled and shook her head at Yongsun’s apparent enthusiasm, “Do I not still have eyes?”

Yongsun rolled her eyes at Byul’s cheeky response, “Well, at least you admit that you’re attracted to her. Look, I know that you’re afraid of hurting her and stuff, but you will never know until you try. Honey, I just want to see you happy, so what’s really stopping you?”

* _You_...*

Moonbyul smiled slightly at the concerned Yongsun and shook her head, “She’s too young for me, and knowing myself, she’ll better off with someone else.”

Yongsun let the discussion slide, at least for now. Knowing Byul like the palm of her hand, she knew that the lawyer would just shut off if she kept pushing.

“Well, whatever you reason was, you still hurt her. So you’ll need to apologise because I refused to be friends with a dick, and you’re definitely being a dick to her. So, un-dick yourself.”

“You do realized there’s no such thing as un-dick yourself right? Is that even a vocabulary? Do you want me to enroll you to school again?”

“Yes! There is, see now you’re being a dick to me.” Yongsun stuck out her tongue before hailing the waitress, “I want dessert, do you want dessert?”

“Babe, you just finished off the pork ribs by yourself, and the mash potatoes, and the macaroni and cheese. And you still want dessert?” Byul shuddered when she imagined all the food that already took their residency in Yongsun’s lean body.

“I have another space especially made for dessert.  Ice cream?” the dark haired woman looked at Byul with such a hopeful look on her face, the latter can’t help but squished the squishy cheek.

“Whatever you want, honey, whatever you want.”

***

 

“If that’s not food, then go away!” an annoyed laced voice greet Wheein’s ear when she knocked on Hyejin’s office.

Eyes widened, she quickly ran back to her corner and grabbed her take away lunch before knocking once more at the senior lawyer’s office.

“What!?” a disheveled looking Hyejin opened the door and then blinked with shock when she saw Wheein standing there.

“Uh, Hi?” Wheein smiled uncertainly.

“What are you doing here?”

“I bought chicken.” She raised the bucket of chicken in front of Hyejin as evidence.

Standing there raising a bucket of chicken, Wheein fidgeted under Hyejin’s appraisal. Her mother said that no one can resist chicken in Korea, she hoped that it held true with this woman as well.

She sighed in relief when Hyejin took the bucket of chicken out of her hand and told her to get inside.

“So, to what do I got the honor of this visit?” Hyejin took a piece of chicken and chewed slowly, her eyes boring into the fidgeting puppy on her couch.

Taking a deep breath, Wheein looked pointedly into the other woman’s eyes, “I want to transfer my internship to your department.”

Raising an eyebrow, Hyejin stopped chewing and put the un-eaten chicken on a piece of tissue, “Okay, talk to me, what did Byul do?”

“Nothing. I just think that I need to broaden my horizon. My major was in business law, but I always been interested in criminal law, so, yes. I want to try to see for myself whether criminal law would be a better fit for me.”

She was convincing, but Hyejin didn’t buy even one word that came out from her mouth.

“Criminal law is very different from what you are used to. We’re talking about visiting clients in prison, gruesome pictures instead of prettily worded words, endless hour of cross checking evidences, being waken up at ungodly hour because the police think that the best time to bust crime is around midnight and you have to bail someone out....”

Wheein cleared her throat and Hyejin stopped talking, “I know, and I don’t mind. Like I said, I want to learn.”

Hyejin pursed her lips, looking at the determined look at the young woman in front of her, she knew that something must’ve happened.

“It would not be a walk in the park.” She warned.

“I won’t expect it to be.” Wheein nodded, sitting up straighter.

“I’m not an easy boss to handle.”

“Everyone knows you eat intern for breakfast, but I’m not an easy intern to handle as well.” Wheein shrugged, “Dad always says that I tend to offense people with my choice of words.”

“And how, does it usually happen?”

Grinning shamelessly, Wheein brushed an errant whip of hair and tucked it behind her ear, “Let’s just say that I tend to speak up whatever it was on my mind. I have zero filter.”

Letting out a breathy laugh, Hyejin picked up her piece of chicken and munch happily, “Good. I hate it when people beat around the bush. Just like what you did when you came into my office and want to transfer under my tutelage.”

Blushing, Wheein ducked her head slightly, “Sorry about that. But I really do want to learn criminal law, so if you would just give me chance, I know I could be a good addition to your team.”

Motioning with her head toward her almost unrecognizable desk, Hyejin looked back toward the intern, “You see that stacks of documents on my desk? If you could re-arrange it into a coherent and understandable time line? You’re hired.”

Beaming, Wheein literally leaped from her seat, “Aye, Aye mam!” she saluted and walked like a trooper toward the desk, causing Hyejin to bit back on her laugh.

_*This should be interesting*_

***

 

Moonbyul walked into the junior lawyer den, bearing a bag filled with bread and pastries from the famous bakery just around the corner of their building. She noticed the pinched concentrated look on Seulgi’s face and berated herself once again for being an idiot throughout the day.

Carefully placing the bag in front of the startled junior, she smiled warmly and gestured toward the bag, “A peace offering, because I acted like an ass today and I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

Almost drooling from the delicious smell coming from the bag, Seulgi looked at Byul carefully, “It’s not poisoned isn’t it?”

Barking a laugh, not the very least offended by the question, the platinum haired lawyer shook her head, “Nope, I can assure you that it’s safe to eat it.”

“Oh good!” quickly pulling out one sweet bread, Seulgi almost moaned when the warm bread nearly melted in her mouth. Talking with her mouth full, she nodded toward her boss, “You’re forgiven. I mean, I could kiss you just for giving me this bread. I don’t have time for lunch, the old Jung gave me tons of work load.”

Shaking her head lightly at her assistant antique, Byul patted Seulgi’s shoulder before she walked back out from the room, “Don’t forget to share, I don’t want you to pass out from the sugar rush.”

Taking a few cleansing breath, she took measured steps toward the paralegal area. She recalled Yongsun telling her to send flower to the young intern, since apparently women like those kind of sweet gesture. However, she’s not sure whether sending Wheein a flower would be the best way to apologize. The last thing she need is to give the intern a mixed signal, and boy did she already gave mixed signal already.

Bracing herself for whatever might happen, she took one last big breath and entered the paralegal den only to find the spot where Wheein was stationed, empty.

A frown made its way toward Byul’s face. She noticed that her laptop was still there as well as her designer bag. Making her way deeper into the office space, she asked one of the paralegal where Wheein is, only to get a negative response that they haven’t seen her since lunch time.

Surmising that Wheein probably off somewhere doing errands, she decided to walk back to her office, promising to herself that she would apologize before the end of the day.

Cringing as she looked at the papers scattered all around her work area, Byul sighed and slowly picked up the mess that she created, * _if only apologizing to Wheein would be as simple as picking up these papers_.*

 

Stifling a yawn and massaging the kink off her neck, she looked at the digital time on her laptop and blinked. 9 PM. Time sure fly around here. She looked at the closed door of her office and sort of wish that a certain ball of energy with long flowing blond hair would barge in. Unfortunately, after staring that the closed door for a minute, the door stay closed.

Moonbyul sighed, she made three other trips toward the paralegal area and strangely, Wheein was still not on her desk and the other paralegal still has no idea where she went. The only reason why she didn’t think that Wheein took off from the office was the fact that her bag was still there. Although knowing that her parents gave her a car with chauffeur to drive her around, it wouldn’t be hard for Wheein to just leave her bag in the office and went home without it. However, she would like to believe that Wheein wouldn’t resort to act like a child and simply left.

Looking back at the blinking cursor on the laptop, she rubbed her tired eyes. Her vision was getting blurry and she knew that she should just call it a day and leave.

Trying her luck once again, she walked toward the paralegal area and saw the place was already deserted. Not only that, she noticed that Wheein’s bag was nowhere to be seen as well. Confirming her feeling that the girl was in the office the entire time and now already left.

* _Maybe I should send her flowers like Yongsun said._ *

***

 

The high-end loft was partially bathed with the street light coming through the curtain less window when she entered her apartment. One shoe came off then the other, she didn’t even bother to put them on their rack before she padded bare feet into the spacious apartment.

Tossing her briefcase onto the couch, she fixed herself a stiff drink and sighed when the liquid burn a trail down her throat. Grabbing the scotch bottle with her, she walked toward the couch and sat down. She could almost hear Yongsun’s voice telling her the downside of having too many drinks, but at the moment she really didn’t care.

She toyed with the idea of calling Wheein on her cellphone, or even driving up to the Jung’s mansion. But she quickly dismissed the thought, she didn’t think that Wheein would appreciate it if she suddenly showed up at her parent’s place. It would just be too awkward.

Moonbyul looked up when she heard the knock on her front door. Heart beat racing, she almost ran toward the door and opened it to reveal... Hyejin.

“Oh, it’s you.”

The short haired woman raised her eyebrow and slipped past the older woman, walking into the still dark apartment, “Geez, did you forgot to pay the electricity bill or something?”

Fingers busy tapping the power switch, lights bathed the place and Byul squint a bit to adjust her eyes to the sudden brightness.

“What’s up?”

Helping herself with the drink, Hyejin took off her shoes with a satisfied groan, “Ugh, the pain that us woman would endure just for beauty.” She massaged her calf softly, ignoring the snorted that came out of Byul’s mouth.

“You seems disappointed when you saw me at the door, expecting someone else?” smirking when Moonbyul kept mum, she continued her teasing, “Like, I don’t know, maybe a certain someone about my height, long flowing blond hair, a cute little dimple on her right cheek.”

“You know, one of these days, I would make sure to give you a shower with whatever I’m drinking at that time. Preferably hot coffee.”

Laughing at the annoyed look on Byul’s face, Hyejin took a slow sip of her amber liquid, “Oh god, I needed the drink. My head been killing me since morning, I was this close...” she inched her two fingers together while taking another sip, “... of finishing my motion when the prosecutor office played dirty and only sent in more discovery evidence this morning and I have to submit the motion in 3 days! 3 days! I want to strangle them so bad!”

“Strangling public officer would be a capital offense and they will send you to jail so fast you’ll get whiplash.” Countered Byul dryly, also taking a swig of her drink.

“Geez, understatement much? Well thankfully that Wheepup work fast, I should be able to finish the motion tomorrow.”

At the mentioned of her little nickname for Wheein, Moonbyul looked at Hyejin with a slightly confused look, surely she misheard. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, your little puppy transferred to intern at my department.” Hyejin shrugged non-chalantly, which only irked Byul even more.

“Since when? I never approved any transfer!”

“You don’t have to, unless you forgot, she sort of has her ol’ daddy wrapped around her sweet little fingers, so when she asked for a transfer, boom! It happened.”

Moonbyul gaped at her best friend, she slowly put down her tumbler lest she really would throw the content to Hyejin’s face. “And you only mentioned this to me, why?”

“Did you not hear what I just said? The prosecutor office....”

Byul cut her off with the motion of her hand, still bewildered and felt slightly betrayed, “I hear you just fine! But you used to have time to bother me and you couldn’t even bother to text me?? You know just a short little message that alert me of the fact that now she interns for you?”

“And this would concern you how?” Hyejin countered the older woman coolly, “We never interact directly with the interns, you even more so. If my memory serves me right, just this morning at breakfast you asked me to take the puppy off your hand. So, what changes?”

Raking her fingers through her hair in frustration, Moonbyul took the tumbler off the table and finished off her drink in one gulp, “Nothing. Whatever.”

Watching Byul’s reaction with skepticism and narrowed eyes, the younger woman scoffed, “Please, you look mad enough to throw that drink to my face. The puppy might not want to tell me what happened, but judging by your reaction, something did happen and it was big enough to unhinge you and made her running to me.”

“I have this conversation with Yongsun already, I screwed up okay?”

“Should I be worry about a sexual harassment suit from... oh, I don’t know, our own managing partner daughter!?”

“Oh for petesakes, I haven’t slept with her!”

“But you want to.” Byul shrugged and topped off her drink just to have something to do.

“You never let anything stop you from screwing a woman before.”

Byul cringed and scratched her eyebrow, “I probably need to check myself into a sex anonymous group or something, both of my best friends think that I screwed anything that moves.”

“Well, not anything, just beautiful gorgeous women and never the same one, because, and I’m quoting you on this, ‘ _sleeping together more than once breeds familiarity, familiarity breeds attachment, attachment leads to relationship and I don’t do relationship_.’ End quote. Dude, I don’t even think you date.”

“I don’t.”

Hyejin threw both of her hands in the air, “Exactly. You just do one night stand.”

“A one night stand would actually involve staying the night.” Byul blurted out subconsciously before grimacing, “Oh wow... maybe I do need to check myself into rehab, I sounded like an asshole.”

“You ARE an ass. Unfortunately those women love your bony ass.”

“Not all people in this world could have a perfect ass like yours.”

Both women grinned at each other, before Moonbyul sighed and leaned her head back, looking at Hyejin with a lost look on her face.

“I screwed up big time.”

“You need to fix it.”

“I know.”

“Flower could work wonder.”

Byul snorted and shook her head lightly, “You and Yongsun, next thing you know, you’ll recommend me buying the puppy some sort of jewelry, because women could never say no to shiny things.”

“A diamond studded collar would be awesome, but I don’t think you two are at that point just yet.” Hyejin winked and barked a laugh when she saw the shock look on Byul’s face.  “Oh don’t get innocent on me now, you’re kinkier than that!”

“You need to bleach your brain, you left it on the gutter for too long.”

“Yeah, and you need to use your brain, because since the day you met that puppy again? You’ve been acting unlike you and to be honest? It scared the shit out of me.”

Chuckling softly, Byul nodded, “I’ll try to find my brain from the gutter as well, I think I lost it somewhere.”

Drinking in silence, both friends just enjoyed the silent camaraderie until Hyejin decided to call it a night, stating that she need to make sure that she still has enough brain cell tomorrow morning to finish her motion. Again, mouthing off at the tricky move that the prosecutor office made to withhold the discovery until the very last minute permissible by law.

“Hey dude? Take care of her for me, would you?” asked Byul when she walked Hyejin to the door.

“Would it be enough if I promised not to eat her for breakfast?”

Laughing softly, “That would do, yeah...”

“She’s a great kid.”

Nodding softly, Byul cant agree more, “I know.”

“So you better fix this, you hear me Moon Byul Yi?”

“I hear you the first time, mom.”

Hyejin kissed Byul on the cheek and then wiped her lipstick stain softly, “Yeah well, you can be dense sometimes, so I will be your not so gentle reminder, got it?”

“Loud and clear.” Byul smiled, slightly feeling better after two sessions of heart to heart with two of her favorite person in the world.

And tomorrow, tomorrow she will make things right.

Hopefully....


	7. Chapter 7

Byul can’t believe that she was having a pep talk with herself, but that was exactly what she has been doing for the last 15 minutes. Starting from when she was queuing for coffee, during the lift ride to their 35th floor office and now as she walked toward the paralegal area.

_‘just stay cool... just stay cool...’_

That mantra accompanied her until she was standing in front of the intern, who by the look on her face, was already engrossed in her work.

Dangling the large cup of ice americano in between Wheein’s line of sight with her laptop, Byul watched as the young woman simply took the plastic cup with her left hand and took a sip, her right hand kept scrolling the mouse and her eyes glued to the laptop in front of her.

“Thanks.” Her voice was muffled by the straw still stationed inside of her mouth, never once looking up.

She glanced around the still deserted area, Hyejin told her that Wheein would be coming in early to check the discovery evidences and by the looks of it, no one else was there yet, then why Wheein didn’t look up to check who gave her coffee? 

Byul stared at the top of Wheein’s head, willing the younger woman to look up, but minute passed by and the younger woman still fully engrossed with her laptop, completely ignoring her surroundings.  Clearing her throat, Byul spoke softly, “Do you always take drinks from strangers?”

Wheein looked up upon hearing Byul’s voice, and took another sip of her ice coffee while staring at the senior lawyer, “You’re not a stranger.”

“You don’t know that when you took the coffee from my hand, what if it was poisoned?”

“Then I’ll be dead.” Or something that sounded like that, Byul can’t be sure since Wheein said it with the straw still attached to her mouth.  She sighed and shook her head, “Been here long?”

The younger woman shrugged, still staring at Byul as she took a huge sip of her coffee making the older woman at a lost on what to say. One look at Wheein and her brain literally turned to mush and the perfectly worded apology just flew out the window.

Finally disconnecting herself with the giant cup, she raised it while looking curiously at Byul, “What is this?”

“Coffee.”Byul stated a matter of factly.

“Tastes like one too.” Slurping the coffee again, Wheein continued to stare at Byul. 

Unable to break the eyes contact between them, Byul opened up her mouth to speak, yet it seems like the words stuck on her throat and won’t came out.

“Do you make it a habit to buy your intern ice coffee?”

Scratching a non-existence itch on her eyebrow, she shook her head, “I was being an ass to you yesterday.”

Taking another huge sip from her cup, Wheein just stared expressionlessly toward the older woman and Byul fidget nervously, tucking and un-tucking her hands inside her slack pockets. 

“It was wrong of me to lead you on and for treating you like crap, you didn’t deserve all of the crap that I put you through, and for that I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t say sorry for kissing me.”

“Should I? I’m not sorry about the kiss, we’re both adult and it was consensual. But I can’t forgive myself for the way I handle the aftermath, like I said, I was being an ass.....”

Wheein raised her hand, stopping Byul mid-sentence, “You’re being a giant arrogant disrespectful insensitive full of yourself douche bag.”

Byul smiled a little at that and nodded, “Yes, I was being a giant arrogant disrespectful insensitive full of myself douche bag and I’m sorry.”

“And solemnly swear that you would be a better person and treat the person you’re being a douche bag to the utmost respect and would do anything that the person wanted.”

Biting her lips to stop the emerging laugh that want to bubble up her throat, Byul could only nodded, “and I solemnly swear that I would be a better person and treat Wheeinie with utmost respect and would do anything that Wheeinie wanted, provided always that the request should be within reason. Now, do you want all that in writing and notarized?”

Looking at Byul with narrowed eyes and still sipping her ice coffee with a gusto, a cute little frown formed between her eyebrows, “the request should be within reason, but the definition of what fell under the definition of reason should be solely depends on Wheeinie’s discretion.”

A short laugh came out as she looked at the satisfied smirk on the younger woman’s face, “I will send a notarized copy of my pledge to you by the end of the day.” Her face turned serious then, “I mean it when I said I was sorry.”

Finishing her cup and threw it to the bin under her desk, Wheein sighed and tucked an errand hair that was out from the low ponytail she was sporting under her ear, “I came on to you too strong, so in a way there’s fault on my part as well, doesn’t excuse your crappy attitude though.”

“No, there was no excuse for what I did. And I’m....”

“If you’re going to say sorry one more time, I would... I don’t know, shove my feet warmer into your mouth or something. I get it the first time, and I hate people saying sorry like it was a cheap word. Beside, by the end of the day, I will have you at my beck and call. I pretty much got a bargain.” Wheein winked at the suddenly concerned looking Byul.

“Let’s put duration on that agreement.”

“Let’s not.”Wheein crossed her arms in front of her chest and playfully glared at Byul who mirrored her action.

“3 months.” 

“10 Years.”

Moonbyul scoffed and shook her head, “No way, 6 months.” 

“5 years.” Stubbornly looking at the older woman, Wheein have to remind herself not to pout. 

“Nope, 9 months.”

“Geez, you make me feel like a pregnant woman, that you’re just being on my beck and call during the pregnancy period. A year! That’s the least you could do.”

Byul pretended to face palm herself and groan out loud, “Fine, a year of being your slave.”

“Oh please, stop being so dramatic. You had it coming. Now shoo, I have to finish this before Hyejin-nim kill me for not finishing this before lunch. Uh....” Realizing that she hasn’t told Byul about her transfer, she bit her lips and smooth down her hair, “Uh.... about that....”

“Hyejin told me, and given the circumstances, I couldn’t blame you, so don’t worry about it. What are you working on?”

Wheein quickly revert her attention back to her laptop, her heart skipped a beat when Byul looked at her with a gentle expression. “The embezzlement case, the prosecutor office sent us the other part of the discovery motion, _un-sequence_ documents. It took me half a day just to sort it out into the correct time line, and I still couldn’t make sense of all of this junk.”

Moving to stand behind Wheein’s chair, Byul leaned down and looked at several documents opened simultaneously on the laptop. “Hmmm...” tapping at the screen, Byul murmured “Enlarge this one, the internal memo. It was an approval for setting up a Cayman Island bank account and the authorized signatories. What’s the name of your client?”

“His name was not on the list. His name was not on the list!! OMG! He won’t have the authorization to transfer the fund to the Cayman Island bank account! But wait, one of the accusations was for signature forgery....” her excitement quickly deflated, and a frown settled once again on her face.

“It was a code.”

“Huh?” distracted by her own excitement, Wheein blushed when she moved her face and found out just how close she was with Byul who was leaning down to look at her laptop, her lips were only a few centimeter away from Byul’s smooth cheek.

“The authorized signatories were given a code instead of using signature to authorize money transfer, look for any possibility of your client getting his hand on the code, if not, then that’s your reasonable doubt.”

Byul turned to face Wheein and quickly straightened up, if either one of them just move an inch their lips would touch. Faking a cough, she tapped Wheein’s head softly, “You can do it.”

Smiling, Wheein nodded, “Thanks.” Turning her attention back at the task at hand, she didn’t see the smile that adorned Byul’s face.

“Oh and Byulyie Unnie?” Wheein called without looking up from her laptop.

“Hmmm?”

“A bag of chips and an ice chocolate would be awesome right now.”

Barking a laugh, Byul has to restrained herself from tousling the younger woman’s hair, instead she found herself walking toward the convenient store down stair, “Yes, Princess!”

***

 

The three friends found themselves sitting in their usual seat in one of the most celebrated fusion restaurant in town. Hyejin took a sip of her sweeten ice tea and looked pointedly at Byul, “So... I didn’t see any flowers on Wheein’s desk.”

Letting out an exaggerated gasp, Yongsun kicked Byul’s leg under the table, “Ya! I told you that flower would do wonders!”

Glaring at the slightly older woman while rubbing her abused shin, Byul scowled, “I bought her ice coffee and chips and ice chocolate already!”

Two identically hard slap landed on each of Byul’s arms at the exact same time, “Ya! Stop abusing me!”

“Then stop being a moron!” Hyejin wondered whether she should’ve just hit Byul on her head, maybe then her brain would be back on its correct spot.

“I can’t believe you can be THIS dense.” The eldest of the three looked like someone just kicked her puppy, disappointment literally shown all over her face.

Byul scowl deepened and she reached inside her briefcase to pull out a folder, “Don’t be so quick to judge, that little minx drove a hard bargain.” She gave them a quick recap on how things really went down this morning and showed them the freshly notarized deed.

Bursting into an uncontrollable laughter, both Hyejin and Yongsun had tears on their eyes after they finally managed to control themselves, much to Byul’s chagrin.

“Oh my god, that was actually ingenious.”  Hyejin almost burst into another laugh when she saw the resigned look on Byul’s face.

“Someone actually one up you in your own game, I can’t believe the day finally come when someone actually managed to make you do this. I think I like her. Honestly, Byul.” Pretending to send a little prayer to up above, Yongsun shouted a little ‘ _hallelujah’_ and Byul rolled her eyes.

“I have to applaud you for actually notarizing this though, that’s just so..... Gentlemanly of you.” Hyejin nodded her approval and snickered when Byul cocked one eyebrow at her.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment? Cause it didn’t seem like one from where I’m seating.”

“Chill, this...” Giving back the folder that she’d been holding the whole time back to Byul, “is actually worth more than flowers.”

Yongsun nodded, “You will be on her beck and call for a YEAR! A YEAR!! I would say it worth even more than a whole flower shop. Oh... one more thing....” suddenly turning serious as if she just remembered something, Yongsun tried to look menacingly at Byul.

“Do you know that your fridge only contain six bottles of beer and a 2 weeks expired milk?”

“Really? The milk expired?”

Yongsun groaned out loud, “Please don’t tell me that you still drink it!”

“Wait... wait....” Hyejin looked at both of her best friend questioningly, “Why in the world would you know what HER fridge contained?” 

“I just checked them this morning, and seriously Byul, I know you have a cleaning lady and all, but do you really have to throw your clothes around your bed room like that?”

“I’m tired, okay, everytime I got back to the apartment I just want to go straight to the bed.” Byul whined and Hyejin still looked at both of them with this curious look on her face.  

“and how did you get inside Byul’s apartment again?” she looked pointedly at Yongsun, but Byul answered instead, “Well, I gave her my security code.”

“You gave Yongsun your security code? What, are you sleeping with her now?”

“WHAT!!?? NO!” came the simultaneous answer from both of them, shuddering as if the though repulsed them to the bone.

“That would be incestuous!” / “I would rather be a monk.” Both speaking at the same time and then looked at each other, Yongsun throwing murderous glare at Byul.

“A monk? Really? Am I not attractive enough for you?”

“Of course you’re pretty! You’re so pretty the sun cannot compare to your brightness.”

Hyejin put her hands up in the air to stop the duo, “Stop, I think I might hurl, you two are so weird. You two flirted like crazy with each other, and so help me god, I already need a therapy from having to listen to it, but Yongsun is straighter than a pole and YOU don’t like pole. It’s moonsunception.”

“Don’t mind us, it’s just how we roll. Okay, back to the topic! Just so you know, our friend here seems to be on a liquid diet. Alcohol that is! So I volunteer to stock up some food for her. End of the story.”

“Yeah, like I want to jump into bed with you.” Byul rolled her eyes and took a sip of her beer.

Gasping, Yongsun quickly sent another kick toward Byul’s shin, “You wish!”

Hyejin groaned and quickly raised both of her hands, “Okay, that’s it! Time out! I’m friends with children I tell you, CHILDREN!!”

***

 

Nearly four months has passed since the incident that was now famously dubbed by Hyejin as the ‘ _Wheebyul-Gate_ ’ and in a twisted _the-universe-love-pulling-pranks-on-human-being_ kind of way, the three best friends got themselves a newfound member in their close knitted group.

Hyejin was the first who invited Wheein to join the trio usual coffee breaks, citing that she needed to discuss work anyway with the younger woman. The coffee breaks turned into invitation for lunches, then into their bi-weekly dinner and without anyone realizing it, Wheein already became a fixed feature on all their lives.

Wheein was crazy smart with a sarcastic streak and wittiness that could either shut or crack Byul’s up, she connected in a spiritual level of weirdness with Yongsun and Hyejin basically found her long lost twin sister. The two of them work so well together, so much so that Hyejin refused to partner up with any other assistant but Wheein, the partners noticed and called them the new dynamic duo of criminal law department.

Their bonds deepened when one night while they were meeting up for drinks, Wheein told her new friends that she was looking for an apartment of her own. Already used to living by herself, she felt odd to suddenly have to live with her parents again.

Jumping with joy at the thought of decorating a new apartment, Yongsun who secretly love decorating (well, not exactly a secret to her best friends that has to endure her excitement for decorating, especially during holiday seasons), volunteered herself to help Wheein apartment hunting.

The eldest of the group practically dragged the other three to go on apartment hunting in their spare times, much to Byul’s chagrin and Hyejin’s annoyance, but all of their protests died down when both Yongsun and Wheein gave them a mirroring puppy eyed pleas.

Much to their delight, they finally found the perfect studio apartment for Wheein within the same apartment complex as Hyejin. Not so much to their delight, Yongsun started ordering them to help with the decorating project. They went on shopping spree with Byul as their designated driver while Hyejin tagged along as the voice of reason since Yongsun and Wheein could spent hours just arguing over paint colors, wood floor or marbled floor, window binds or curtains, or which pictures would goes well with the overall tone of the living room section. 

Bonding over beers and buckets of chicken while repainting the plain white wall with a darker shade of beige, nearly sand color (because Hyejin and Wheein both loves the beach), replacing the tiles with wood flooring which Byul stained herself, arguing over where to place the dark wood furniture and the white plush sofa, with the occassional pillow fights when they were too tired to move and just spent the night, the foursome successfully turned the once empty space into a cozy, modern yet still have that homey feeling studio apartment for their youngest member.    

And it was the same exact apartment where Byul found herself standing, waiting for Wheein to open the door so they can go to dinner with the other two.

“You wear a dress.” Those words left Wheein’s lips as soon as she opened the door to reveal Byul standing there with a knee length black dress. Her shoulder was bare, only slightly concealed by her hair that she left down that night.

“Hyejin told me that I should dress up, she want to have dinner somewhere nice.” Argued Byul while she took in the tight pale blue jeans that seemed to mold to Wheein’s calves and thigh like second skin up to the untucked buttoned up crisp white shirt, with sleeves rolled up to her elbow. Her usually immaculate hair was casually blow dried, leaving it slightly wavy around her almost make up free face. Wheein looked... softer... and beautiful.

“Yongsun unnie just texted me that she won’t be able to make it to dinner, Hyejin just called me and said that she scored herself a last minute date and that she already texted you to just pick me up and eat somewhere casual.”

Byul frowned, “I left my phone on the car, but she must’ve texted me while I’m already on my way to your place.”

Wheein sighed then and started unbuttoning her shirt, “What are you doing?” Alarmed, Byul closed the gap between them and stilled Wheein’s fingers.

Cocking her eyebrow at Byul’s hand on hers, Wheein giggled when Byul quickly dropped her hands and tried to tuck it into her usual pocket only to realize that she was wearing a dress, “I’m changing my clothes, let’s eat at a fancy restaurant then, you’re all doll up and all.”

“You know what, don’t worry, let’s just go to wherever it is you want to go.”

“Are you sure? I mean, you’re wearing a dress.”

“I’m sure it will be worth it, I mean, I’m going with a beautiful woman to dinner. Anywhere would be fine.”

Wheein laughed and shook her head, “Sure, let’s go. Let me just grab my bag then.”

***

 

The little Korean restaurant that Wheein took her to was a dream. The place was cozy and warm since it was bathed in soft yellow lights and the space was only enough to place a handful of people at once. Escorted to the small table at the back of the room, they sat facing each other, their legs brushed every so often due to the limited space, but neither of them minded.

While Wheein still having difficulties to decide on what to order, since apparently everything is good in this place, the owner of the restaurant greeted them.  An elderly couple who knew Wheein since she was still in diapers, their warm hospitality only topped by the amazing _samgyetang_ made by Mrs. Park, who swore that it was a family recipe handed down from generation to generation, which they would never find anywhere else.

Byul not quite sure how the evening really progress, all she remembered was that she needed to remind herself to breathe every once in awhile. She watched as Wheein’s animatedly conversed with the elderly couple, hugging them and being all cuddly with the grandmotherly Mrs. Park.  She remembered the smile that never left Wheein’s pink lips and the way her eyes seemed to glow with genuine happiness and how the lights bathe her in a soft glow, creating a halo around her. Byul was surrounded by the warmth radiated off from the beautiful woman in front of her and a fleeting thought crossed her mind that she wouldn’t mind spending an eternity just like this.

Their food came, a bigger portion compliment of the owner and Wheein squealed in delight creating a smile on Byul’s lips because of her cute action. If someone told her that the two of them would be having a dinner like this months ago, Byul would laugh in their face. But now, any traces of awkwardness were completely non-existent and to be perfectly honest, she would never phantom that they would have this level of comfort with each other. It was almost like the old time, with Byul teasing the young woman mercilessly, the only difference was; now Wheein teased her equally as bad.

"Ugh, I think I might burst." Wheein rubbed her full stomach and puffed her cheek.

Chuckling softly, Byul shook her head. "Well, I wouldn’t surprise if you do, you practically wolfed down yours and still stole from mine!"

"But it was soooo good!!!" Wheein pouted slightly and Byul rolled her eyes.

"I heard you the first hundred times you said that, but yeah, it was good. Why’d you never take us out here before?"

Wheein shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear, she took a sip of her hot tea and sighed with satisfaction, "Hyejin and Yongsun unnie usually already made reservation on our behalf, so I just tagged along. But yeah, we should drag them here some other time. Ughhh, I don’t want the night to end, I needed this weekend off!"

"Hyejin have been working your ass of lately huh? Anyway, speaking of work, you two need to plead out the drug offender case. I looked at the case file; it was his first offense, no sense getting into trial. Just plead out, he could get the maximum fine and then send into rehab."

Wheein cocked her head slightly, a confused look on her face, "Why are you looking at our case files?"

"You haven’t heard from your dad? Old Kwon was considering retirement, health reason, so he will lessen his load and until he picked his replacement, I would oversee the criminal department as well."

"Really? Dad hasn’t told me about that, so that's why he rarely came into the office lately. Have the partners talked about who would replace him?" Wheein looked at Byul seriously and the platinum haired lawyer shrugged.

"Not sure yet, we're still considering whether to promote Hyejin to partner or to hi-jack someone from other law firms. There were some talks, but we’re still considering it at this point. Now, I know that you and Hyejin are close, but you can’t tell her about this. The official announcement that I would oversee some of the Old Kwon cases would be announced this coming Monday, we're still thinking of the appropriate reason, so no one would be alarmed."

"Noted. Hey, do you want to grab a drink? Like you said, Hyejin been working me like crazy this week, and I needed a stiff drink!"

Byul laughed and nodded, "Sure, but you could complain all you want, however, I could tell that you'd been happier lately."

Wheein’s eyes twinkled and a soft smile appeared on her pretty face, "Yeah well, I never thought I would enjoy litigation this much, but I do. I mean, I have doubts settling down in Korea before, but now? I took online classes to prepare myself for bar test here, who would've thought right?"

Byul smiled, somehow ecstatic at the thought of Wheein staying put and seeing the look of pure joy on the young woman's face, she can’t help but be happy as well. Reaching out across the table to intertwine their fingers together, she looked deep into Wheein's eyes and smiled warmly, "Good... that's good."

Tightening her hold on Byul's hand, cheek dimpling with answering smile, Wheein nodded slightly, "Yeah..."

***

 

The two women walked hand in hand toward Wheein's apartment, both agreed that they needed the fresh air after they each finished off three bottles of Soju. They decided that since they both want to drink their ass off, they should be responsible and left Byul's car at Wheein's apartment first before grabbing a cab to their chosen bar.

"We shouldn’t finish that last bottle." Giggling a little and a bit unsteady on her feet, Wheein leaned into Byul slightly.

"Said the one who actually beg me to stay longer and wanted to order more."Byul was having a nice buzz, being the stronger drinker of the two, she definitely could hold her liquor better. Steadying Wheein by wrapping her arm around the younger woman's waist, she laughed when Wheein almost stumbled on her own feet, "Careful there.”

“Unnie, I think I’m drunk.” Byul’s quiet laughter turned into a grin when the younger woman stopped on her track, rested her forehead on Byul’s bare collarbone and hugged Byul tightly, “Carry me!”

“I’m wearing heels!” protest Byul although a laugh escaped her lips. She glanced at the tall building ahead of them, Wheein’s building, which was only a few hundred meters away and relented. “Okay, do you want a piggy ride on my back or do you want me to carry you?”

Wheein eyes softened at Byul’s answer and she shook her head, “It’s near, come on, just hold my hand so I won’t fall.” tightening her hold onto the blond, Byul smiled “Don’t worry, I won’t let go.”

After several quiet whisper of ‘ _dont fall_ ’ from Byul and laughter from Wheein each time they stumbled as they walked the few hundred meters together, the two woman stood in front of Wheein’s door safely without any accident or twisted ankle. 

“Thank you for tonight, It was fun.” Byul was pleasantly surprised when Wheein leaned in and gave her cheek a lingering kiss. Tangling her hand onto the soft tresses of Wheein’s hair, Byul whispered a soft ‘ _sweet dreams_ ’ onto Wheein’s ear before reluctantly letting go. And as she watched Wheein entered her apartment, she wished that the night wouldn’t end so soon.


	8. Chapter 8

Hyejin put the last of the carton box filled with medicine, warm blankets, clothes, toys and daily needs products into her SUV, while Wheein double checked the list on her hand.

“I think we got everything.” Wheein closed the passenger door, her freshly dyed dark brown hair was put into a high ponytail and just like instructed by Yongsun, she wore a comfortable dark sweatshirt, a dark washed jeans and her favorite sneaker.

Nodding, Hyejin closed the back door of her SUV with a grunt, “Let’s go then, I still have to help Yongsun prepared the food for the open kitchen. No one should trust Byul’s cooking skill.”

Grinning at Hyejin’s remark over Byul’s inability to cook, she teased the older woman while climbing toward the front passenger seat, “Then why did you volunteer to bring in the goods instead of picking up Yongsun unnie and help her with the cooking?”

“Yeah well, as much as I don’t trust Byul’s ability to cook, I hate getting up in the morning more. They have to wake up at dawn and go the market to buy all of the ingredients. No thank you.”

“I just hope that Byulyie unnie won’t burn the shelter down by trying to cook.”

Both women laughed at the recent memory of Byul trying to cook something and ended up burning all of the food and triggered the fire alarm. Thinking that their building was on fire, the other tenants on her building were in panic and quickly evacuated, alerting the fire department team for rescue mission.

Byul got fined for causing the ruckus and received a severe reprimand from the fireman chief, reminding her that she should’ve turned on her cooking exhaust while cooking. Embarrassed, she vowed that it would be her last cooking adventure, since it only landed her with a 2,500,000 Won Fine and an apartment that smelled like smoke for a week.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Yongsun already put her on a leash or something. Your seat belt’s on?”  Looking at the buckled up young woman, Hyejin nodded and started their drive toward the shelter for abuse women and children.

A couple of days ago, Yongsun – who was a social worker for a non-profit organization that lends helping hand toward the women and children that has a rough household – invited them over to the shelter to help with winter preparation. The organization refurbished an old and abandoned school complex a couple of years ago and turned it into a shelter, opening their door for abused women and their children.

Now that the fall season nearly over, they need to make sure that the shelter would have sufficient warm clothes and blankets and daily run of the mill cold medicine to survive the up and coming winter. Not stopping there, she also said that they would have an open kitchen for the shelter’s resident and the surrounding neighborhood.

“I have to be honest though, my cooking skill are limited to boiling water and making cup ramen, so I won’t be much help.”

Hyejin laughed, “And you survived living abroad alone, how?”

“I’m the expert of dialing my phone for delivery and basically friends with all of the restaurant owners around 3 miles radius of my apartment in New York.” Cheek dimpling, Wheein smiled proudly to the chuckling Hyejin.

“Your mother must be proud.”

“Of course!” Wheein giggled, overly excited because this was her first time doing something good like this and happy to be included in what she learned was a long tradition between the trio. Hyejin told her that they normally helped out once every 6 months or every 3 months if their schedules permitted.

“Well, then you could help out by playing with the children. That box marked toys over there? We have plush toys for the girl and cars for the boys, oh! You like drawing right? Then maybe you could teach them how to draw and color, we have those for all the children too. A word of advice, don’t be disheartened when they were a bit wary of you for the first time, especially the newer children. They have... trust issues.”

Wheein nodded solemnly, she questioned Yongsun unnie excessively when she first extended the invitation, eager to help in whatever capacity.

The young woman was surprised to learn that most of the women that ran away from their abusive relationship have difficulties going back to their family for help. Sometimes it was because they were ashamed or because they don’t have any family left, or because they were afraid that their significant others would find them.

What even more heart breaking was the fact that most of them have difficulties finding work, used to depended solely to their significant others, they don’t have enough skill set to survive on their own. That’s why the organization set up classes to help them get back on their feet, providing them with the knowledge and skill and most importantly mental support to show them that they could survive on their own.

There were success stories of the women who managed to get back on their feet and left the shelter a new person, sometimes giving back by helping out with the shelter as well. But, there were also cases where the abuses were so severe, they refused to leave the shelter or worse, they left the shelter to go back to their abusive partners.

“I applaud Yongsun unnie though, she dealt with so many heart break on a daily basis. I don’t think I could do what she’d been doing all of this time. I wonder what motivated her.”

“She’s one of the kindest, most generous person that I ever met. She’s just pure that way.” Giving Wheein a small smile, Hyejin return her attention toward the road.

“No wonder Byulyie unnie is so protective of her.”

“Ah... yeah. I guess so, I was kind of protective toward her too.”

Silence descends on the rest of their car ride, both lost in their own thoughts. Half way through their journey, the road started to change from the smooth asphalt freeway to a rockier and bumpier lane since the shelter was situated in a small rural village on the outskirt of Seoul, picked more out of necessity for safety rather than comfort.

***

 

“We’re here.” Hyejin drove past the gate and parked their car on the lot reserved for parking. Wheein jumped out from the car and picked up one of the smaller box from the passenger seat. She stopped on her track and for a minute simple stood there, fascinated by the bustling of activities around her.  The spacious courtyard was full of people, some of them are helping out with the open kitchen, and some of them can be seen carrying mattresses and other house hold supplies.

Yongsun shrieked and ran toward them with a huge smile on her face, “You guys made it!!!” she hugged Hyejin, saying something along the line of Hyejin being right on time because she was about to go crazy with all the cooking and then motioned toward other volunteers to help unloading the boxes.

The dark haired beauty then turned toward Wheein, gracing the young woman with one of her trademark grin, “Welcome Wheeinie!! Oh, just give that box to one of the volunteer, they will organize all of the boxes together in the main hall. Can you cook?” she laughed when Wheein shook her head vigorously.

“Ah, it’s okay, you can help out organizing the boxes if you want then. Or just look around the premises, I’m sure I’ll think of something else for you to do. So little time so much to do, oh my god!!”

Wheein laughed at Yongsun’s obvious enthusiasm. Handing off the box to one of the volunteer, she nervously tucked both of her hands on her jeans back pocket. She looked around and realized that she didn’t see Moonbyul anywhere, “Where’s Byulyie unnie?”

“Oh, Byul is at the back doing her pro bono.”

“Pro bono?”

Yongsun’s smile dimmed just a tad, “Well... these women need all the help that they could get, they don’t know much about filing for divorce and most of them do not have money to hire a lawyer to file their cases and fight for child custody. So usually Byul and Hyejin do pro bono to help them out. Ah right, you could help with that as well if you want.”

Slightly dumbfounded by this new piece of information, Wheein just nodded and walked slowly toward the back of the school complex where Yongsun said Byul would be.

The back yard was quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of the front courtyard. Two tables were set up near the left side of the backyard door with rows of chairs filled with women and children waiting for their turn for consultation. She easily spotted the platinum hair lawyer.

Sporting a warm black cashmere sweater and black ripped jeans, her usually loose hair tied into a low ponytail, Byul looked at ease out of her usual suit. With a toddler settled securely on her lap, she was conversing with a young woman while once in a while writing something on what seems like a form in front of her.

Wheein put a finger on her lips and smiled gently when she saw some of the women noticing her presence. She leaned slightly on the backyard door and simply watched Byul from the side.

“That lipstick looks good on you, it’s really brightened your face. Don’t you think, Da-Eunnie?” Byul made silly faces toward the little girl on her lap and smiled brightly when the toddler giggled. She then turned her attention back toward the blushing woman in front of her and winked, “See, even your daughter agrees with me.”

Wheein smiled and shook her head slightly, amazed by Byul’s ability to charm everyone around her. She almost jumped when she felt a tap on her shoulder and found Yongsun by her side. “Here, I forgot to give you this.” She handed over a bag full of toys and drawing tools, “It helps to keep the children distracted with these. Byul’s already a pro in making them distracted so that they won’t be agitated when their mother cry when telling their stories, but these toys would come in handy if needed.”

Wheein simply nodded again and motioned with her head toward Byul and whispered, “Is she always that greasy with everyone?”

Yongsun bit her lips and smiled, “Yep, and I’m thankful for that.” She whispered back, “These women faced too many hardships in their life, and Byul’s sweet words are like fresh air to them, it helps them rebuild their self-esteem. I actually encourage Byul to be as greasy as possible.”

“But won’t them... you know... fall for Byul or something?”

Yongsun shrugged, “I know some of them have a crush on Byul, but she never do anything to encourage them other than being nice to them, so there’s really no harm in it. Go, help out. I’ll be back when we’re ready to hand out food.” She gave Wheein’s another warm squeeze on her shoulder before leaving.

Letting out a deep breath, Wheein put a smile on her face and walked toward the table. She sat gingerly on the chair beside Byul and smiled when she saw the curious faces from the other women.

Byul looked toward her and smiled, “Hey.” Turning her attention back toward the toddler on her lap, she repositioned the little girl until she was facing Wheein, “Da-Eunnie, say Hello to Wheein unnie.” The little girl shyly waved at her before hiding her face on Byul’s embrace and Wheein’s heart melt.

She rummaged through the bag in front of her and took out a plush panda toy. She shook the plush toy and made weird noises, “Da-Eunnie, _annyeong_!!!” she saw the interest on the little girl eyes and shook the plush toys again, “Wanna play with unnie?” she watched as the little girl looked back and forth between Byul, her mother and the toy.

Cheek dimpling with a huge smile, Wheein stood up and lifted the table, repositioning them a few meters away from Byul’s table. She then spread the toys from the bag onto the table, eyes twinkling she looked at all of the eyes that glued on her, “Children, come here and play with unnie, look! Unnie bring a lot of toys!”

Byul smiled, holding Da-Eunnie in her arms, she walked toward Wheein’s table after herding the other children to join her. She gave the willing Da-Eun to Wheein’s arms and whispered ‘ _thank you_ ’ before walking back toward her table. With Wheein entertaining the children, she could finally dig deeper into the problem without fear that the children would hear something that they shouldn’t.

***

 

Byul cracked her knuckles and put the sixth report that she already filled for the day on top of the other reports. She smiled at the last two women still waiting for their turn for consultation and motioned to one of them to sit in front of her when Wheein’s tinkling laughter distracted her.

She turned her attention toward the young woman and smiled fondly. She had to admit that throughout the day, she’d been stealing glances at Wheein, slightly surprised at how good Wheein was with the children. Their laughter filled the backyard as Wheein animatedly told them stories using the toys as props. One by one the women that already finished their consultation with Byul joined in and Byul felt a sense of pride when Wheein managed to make them smile as well.

Wheein stopped her story mid-sentences when their eyes met across the yard, and the crescent eyes smile that she sent Byul’s way was so beautiful, it took Byul’s breath away.   

“Your girlfriend is really pretty.”

Byul blinked and turned her attention back toward the older woman in front of her. She shook her head slightly and laughed, “She’s not my girlfriend.” Byul untied and retied her hair into the loose low ponytail and took up her pen once again, “Okay, so... what can I help you with?”

The woman looked at Byul skeptically, the constant look that Byul sent that young woman’s way was too obvious and too warm to be anything but special. Refraining herself from prying any further, the woman just nodded and started her story.

 

The peace that settled amongst them broke when they heard shouts and commotion from the courtyard. Alarmed, Byul told them to stay put and then broke into a run. Wheein forced a smile on her face to calm down the suddenly agitated women and children, promising to send someone over, she too, quickly broke into a run after Byul.

Wheein saw a man standing in the middle of the courtyard, shouting threats and bodily harms to a couple of volunteers. Her blood ran cold when she saw that Yongsun was one of the volunteer trying to talk sense to the man.

“I have rights to see my wife and daughter!!!”

“Soon to be ex-wife.” Byul moved forward and slightly pushed Yongsun behind her. Her face was a mask of coldness as she appraised the angry man in front of her.

“Who do you think you are??? I would be the one who decide whether I want to divorce her or not! You people poison her mind and took her and my daughter away from home!!!” he spat to the ground and move menacingly forward.

Byul and the rest of the volunteer took a step back, her arms reached back to touch Yongsun and she whispered, “Babe, Go. Now.” Never losing her sight on the man, she gently pushed Yongsun so that the dark haired woman won’t be in harm’s way.

“But Byul....”

“Go.”

Byul looked calmly at the red faced man. She noted the storm of emotion on the man’s eyes and quickly scanned his body for any hidden weapon. “Sir, you are trespassing. You are not welcome here and like I said, your soon to be ex-wife and your daughter have no intention to see you. So, I suggest you turn back and walk away. Now.”

The man laughed, a harsh and bitter laugh, before he fixed his eyes on Byul, finding his target, “Or what?? You’re going to report me to the police? I will report YOU for kidnapping my wife and daughter and I will sue this whole place!!! I want my wife and daughter now!!”

Byul firmed her stance and smiled, “Please call the police then, and I will tell them how you beat your wife daily and made you daughter watch. Let’s see who they will put in jail.”

Wheein who already stood beside Hyejin gripped the short haired woman’s arm tightly, “What is she doing?” she whispered harshly, fear trickled down her spine.

Gripping the cold hand on her arm, Hyejin tightly smiled, “Don’t worry, Yongsun called the police already, they should be on their way.”

“But... Byul....”

Wheein gasped and tightened her grip on Hyejin’s arm when the man moved to strike Byul. Her scream died on her throat when she watched Byul easily side stepped the man’s strike.

Byul laughed, “Is that it? Is that what always happen when you don’t have anything else to say? You strike? You used your fist instead of your words?”

The man growled and moved to strike again, only to be side stepped again by Byul’s quick reflexes and lost his balance. Byul assessed the situation when the man was on the ground and felt a little sense of relief when the male volunteers already created human barriers between them and the others. She quickly scanned for Wheein, Yongsun and Hyejin and noted with relief that they were all behind the human barrier and fixed her attention back toward the mad man.

“Ah crap.” Byul cursed when the man produced a small folding knife from his pocket and strike blindly at Byul. She avoided the strikes carefully as the man kept coming at her with the knife. She side stepped again and grabbed a hold on the man’s hand, putting all of her strength, she twisted the man’s hand until he screamed and let go of the knife. She quickly kicked the offending weapon away, still holding the man’s hand in a twist, she stepped on the man’s foot until he lost his balance and howled in pain.

She watched the man holding his foot in pain and shout for a rope. She didn’t realized that the man was already on his feet again until it was too late. Byul felt searing pain when her back connected with the ground as the man tackled her to ground. She groaned and held up her hands up when the man tried to hit her on the face. She faintly heard screams, but she was already deep in her adrenaline haze, all she could hear was the beating of her own heart. She grunt and kicked the man on his balls with all of her might and pounced when the man rolled over, clutching his balls.

Byul punched the man on the face, once, twice, thrice, until she felt hands pulling her away from the crying man. She felt arms around her, stopping her from moving further and she finally heard Wheein’s voice, “Byul stop, please stop. Please....”

Shook out of her entrancement, she watched as a police car and a dark sedan pulled up. Two policemen quickly came out from the car and apprehended the man, hauling him off his feet and handcuffed him before escorting him toward the police car.

She then looked at the arms around her and realized that Wheein back-hugged her tightly. She winced when she realized that her knuckles was scraped when she hit that man, but she managed to pat Wheein’s hand lightly, “It’s okay, Wheepup. I’m okay.”

Wheein let go of her hold and looked at Byul with angry tears, “What were you thinking!!?? You could’ve been hurt!!!”

Shocked and unsure what to do, Byul shrugged and raked her hands on her untied hair. She winced when that small movement made the scrape on her knuckles throbbed. Wheein gasped and grabbed her hand to inspect the wound, “You’re hurt!!!”

“It’s nothing.”

Wheein wiped the errand tears from her eyes and glared at Byul, “You have a bloody knuckles, you idiot! How can you say it was nothing?? I’m going to get first aid kid.” Wheein quickly left Byul who found herself under two more glares sent her way.

“Playing a hero now, are we?” Hyejin glared at her with her arms crossed across her chest while Yongsun pinned her with her worried gaze.

“Hey, I got it under control, and no one hurts which is good. We knew this kind of thing could happen sooner and later, and the other volunteers already did exactly as we practiced. So, it’s all good.”

“Yeah, except the part where you baited that man. Do you want to get hit or something? Because I could hit you, you don’t need to bait a mad man.” Hyejin hit Byul’s arm hard.

“OW! YA! What was that for?”

“That’s for making me worried, you idiot!” she moved to hit Byul again, but Byul quickly took a couple of step back away from the violent woman.

“Yongsun-nim! Aren’t you going to defend me??”

Yongsun glared at her and hit her other arm instead, “No! And that’s for making ME worried!”

“Oh my god! The two of you would be the death of me!”

“No, I will be the one who kill you if you pull that kind of action again.” Wheein glared at Byul as she walked toward them, a box of first aid kid in her hand and a folding chair on her other hand.

“Now, sit here so I can dress your wound.”

Byul obediently sat on the chair and winced when Wheein grabbed her hand none too gently to inspect her wound. Wheein tsk-ed and showed the wound to Hyejin and Yongsun for their inspection, “Please tell her that she’s an idiot.”

“You’re an idiot.” Hyejin and Yongsun chorused like they already practiced saying it a million times.

“Can you clean and dress her wound? I could get someone to do it if you want to.”

Wheein smiled at Yongsun and nodded, “Don’t worry, I took emergency class back in New York, so I could do it. Although I’m not sure whether I should do it gently, since Byul here is such a tough woman.” She glared again at Byul who tried to look innocently at her.

Yongsun laughed and shook her head, “Then don’t, she deserved it. Anyway, I’ll make my statement and then join you guys again, okay.” She smiled and then walked toward a well dressed man who was talking to the other volunteers.

Wheein cleaned and wrapped Byul’s knuckle with lightening efficiency, ignoring Byul’s hiss of pain when she tightened the knot on the gauze. “There, I’ll change the gauze when we return to your apartment later, don’t move your hand too much. I’ll drive you later.”

“I still have my other hand you know, I could drive myself.” Byul shut her mouth quickly when Wheein gave her another glare.

“Who’s that? Yongsun unnie looks like she knew him well.” Wheein motioned with her chin toward the laughing Yongsun and the kind looking well dressed man.

“Eric Nam, prosecutor. He always has a crush on Yongsun since she was a prosecutor.”

Wheein looked at Hyejin curiously, “Yongsun unnie was a prosecutor? Really?”

Hyejin cleared her throat, “Uh yeah, anyway, I’ll check on the others.” She quickly flee toward the main hall leaving a silent Byul and a still curious Wheein.

“You never told me that Yongsun unnie was a prosecutor.”

Byul shrugged, avoiding eyes contact, she looked at the neatly wrapped gauze, “It was another lifetime ago. She’s a social worker now. That’s it.”

Sensing that both Hyejin and Byul was uncomfortable with her question, Wheein let the question go, she will ask Yongsun unnie herself later on.

***

 

The rest of the day went smoothly after that little fiasco. The prosecutor took a couple of statements and promised to file charges against the man. He even promised to send out car patrol once in awhile just to make sure that this kind of incident won’t happen again, to the relief of the women and children who were pretty shaken up by the incident.

The atmospheres were tense an hour after the police took the man to custody, but quickly picked up when they started the open kitchen and everyone could relax again, eating and drinking and have their togetherness created a safe haven amongst them.  

True to her words, Wheein refused to let Byul changed her mind and drove Byul back toward her apartment, leaving Hyejin to be the one that would drive Yongsun unnie home.

 

Byul groaned when she tried to lie down on her bed. Wheein eyed her critically when she noticed the stiff movement of Byul’s body. “Take off your clothes.”

“Geez, do you really want to get me naked that bad?”

Wheein rolled her eyes, “That man tackled you to the ground, you’re moving around stiffly and we just spent 2 hours drive by car, now take off your clothes or I’ll rip it off you.”

Byul gaped at Wheein’s bold words and laughed, she winced when her laughter caused her body to throb painfully, “Ah, whatever.” She gingerly took off her sweater and winced when she heard Wheein gasped, “Is it that bad?”

“On your stomach now, do you have any medication ointment?”

“Try my medicine cabinet in the bathroom, Yongsun usually stock up some for me.” Gently doing what she was told to do, Byul grabbed a pillow and was on her stomach with only her bra and her jeans on.

She felt a slight dip on her bed, followed with a cold hand on her back, “You have bruises all over your back, it would be black and blue in a couple of days.” Wheein caressed Byul’s back slightly before putting the medication ointment and massaging Byul’s back gently.

Byul groaned, “It hurts... but your touch feels so good.”

Wheein laughed and refrained herself from hitting Byul, “Shut up.”

Byul chuckled, “I can’t help it, and it’s true. You have a healing touch, my angel.”

“Stop it, or I’ll hit you.”   

Byul can’t see her, but Wheein had a smile on her face. They fell into silence as she continued to spread ointment and massaged Byul’s back slowly.  

Wheein stopped her ministration then, her voice turning serious, “I was so scared back then, I felt that my heart stopped when that man tackled you and started hitting you.”

Byul opened and then closed her mouth, not really know what to say when she heard the note of fear on Wheein’s voice, “When I saw that you’re hurt, all I want to do is to hold you and hide you from anyone that could hurt you. Please don’t be a hero next time, Byul... I don’t think my heart could take it if you’re hurt again.”

Byul turned and sat up, she sighed heavily when she saw the look of fear etched on Wheein’s face, “It was a reflex... I can’t help it. I know it was stupid of me, but at that time, all I could think of was to protect everyone. I just want everyone to be safe and.... when I remembered what that man did to Naeun and Da-eun, I saw red. All I wanted to do is to hurt that man and....” Byul stopped when Wheein took her wrapped hand into hers and kissed it gently.

“You have a good heart, Byulyie unnie. A soft heart.... but maybe this is me being selfish, but I don’t want you to do that ever again, I just don’t want you to get hurt, ever again.” Wheein looked up and their eyes locked, determination written all over her face and Byul’s heart twitched.

“I can’t promise you that, Wheeinie....” her voice cracked slightly, but she smiled softly at the young woman in front of her, “But I promised that I’ll be extra careful next time.”

“and I promised that I won’t bait a mad man ever again.”

A grin formed on her face then, “And I promised that I won’t bait a mad man ever again, unless it was necessary.”

Wheein groaned, “Will you stop being a lawyer for a second, stop adding or revising my wording and just do it.”

Byul laughed lightly, she reached up and stroke Wheein’s hair softly, tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear and cradled her face gently, “You changed your hair. color”

“Just feel like it and you’re changing the conversation.” Wheein poked Byul’s cheek playfully and glared.

“Beautiful, but then again, you always look beautiful no matter what.”

The younger woman snorted, “Of course I always look good, but like I said, stop changing the conversation.”

“If I promised all of that, will you please massage my back again and kiss it better?” Byul looked at Wheein expectantly and the dark haired woman laughed lightly.

“Deal. Now get back on your stomach.”

“So bossy.”

“We established that months ago. Do it before I tied you down.”

“Oh ho... maybe I should just be stubborn so that you will tie me down.” Byul wiggled her eyebrow and Wheein half laugh half screaming at her, “Unnie!!! Seriously!!!”

Obeying the younger woman, she turned around and lay back down on her stomach. She sighed when she felt Wheein’s hand gently massaging her back again, a smile formed on her lips at the feel of warmth that spread from Wheein’s touch on her back toward her whole body and soul.

Her breath evened out and she fell into a deep sleep, the event of the day catching up on her. Wheein watched on as Byul succumbed into slumber and stroke the soft platinum hair softly, unwilling to leave but knew that Byul would need her rest.

Covering the older woman with the warm blanket, Wheein pressed a lingering kiss on the side of Byul’s head. “Sleep tight, sweetheart....”

She watched Byul’s sleeping form for a while longer from her bedroom door, before turning off the light and walked out from Byul’s apartment, already missing Byul’s presence with each steps that she took.


	9. Chapter 9

Byul was whistling as she walked toward the junior lawyer’s area, a jumbo size ice americano on one hand and on her other hand, a post card sized printed picture of the four of them together – captured during one of their night outings –with ‘ _congratulation, you survived!’_ written on the white border in Byul’s own hand writing.

Time surely flies when you’re having fun, and that was exactly what happened. Without them realizing, Wheein already finished her 6 months internship and officially joined the law firm as a Junior Associate 3 months ago and Byul really wanted to mark the special milestones, thus the congratulatory picture and Wheein’s favorite beverage.

She slowed her pace and frowned when she saw Wheein giggling at whatever it was that Taehyung was whispering to her. Her frown deepened when she realized just how close they were standing next to each other. She quickened her steps and approached them with a huge smile on her face.

She tapped Wheein’s forehead softly with the picture, “Congratulation! You survived 3 months as our junior associate, so here’s your ice coffee.” She thrust the jumbo plastic cup and the picture in front of the surprised young woman.

Taking the gift from Byul’s hands, Wheein looked at the picture and the ice coffee with a twinkle on her eyes and bestowed the gifter with a huge dimpled smile, “I could kiss you right now, you know?”

“What’s stopping you?” Byul winked and leaned forward, effectively made Taehyung – who went quiet when the partner reached them – to take a step back, lest he’ll bumped into his boss.

Byul tilted her head slightly toward the frozen young man and raised one of her eyebrow to Wheein, conveying her silent question.

Wheein glanced at the uncomfortable looking Taehyung from the corner of her eyes and then looked back at the playful face of Byul in front of her. Deciding to play along she leaned toward the older woman, “We’re in public place, baby... maybe later, at your place.” She whispered the last word on Byul’s ear, but still loud enough for Taehyung to listened in on their conversation.

She then side stepped the chuckling Byul and looked at the red-faced Taehyung, “Oh, seems like I can’t go to dinner with you tonight, Tae, something....  came up.” She slowly raked her eyes appreciatively over Byul’s form and bit her lower lips slightly.

“Uh... sure. Dinner sometimes maybe?” and Byul almost felt sorry for him when she heard the hopeful tone on his voice. Almost.

“We’ll see.” She then winked at the young man before leaving their office area toward Hyejin’s office, a little bounce on her steps.

Byul waited until Wheein was well out of hearing distance before she turned her attention toward Taehyung. Fidgeting under Byul’s intense appraisal, he almost jumped when Byul suddenly put her arm around his shoulder, “So, you asked Wheein to dinner tonight?”

He gulped and managed a small nod. Byul was famous for her no non-sense approach with all of the junior lawyers, so it was unnerving to be that close with someone that he considered as his hero.

“Well then, good for you. Anyway, I want you to do something for me.” She directed Taehyung toward the elevator.

“I need you to pull the due diligence for the AP Project. I think that we need to rearrange the way that we file the report to the client. Let’s make a couple of options for them, shall we? I think 3 types of report should do it. One, I want them in alphabetical order. The second one should be filed by types of transactions and the third one by date. Oh, and I want small summary for each one of them for easy reading. I think a week in the Archive room should be sufficient, don’t you think _Tae_?”

She gently pushed Taehyung toward the elevator when the door opened and pressed number 33 on the panel, the floor of their archive room, “Don’t worry, I’ll have Seulgi cover for your other work, so you don’t have to go back and forth between the office and the archive room. _Hwaitting_! I’m sure you would do great, thanks Tae!” Byul smiled and then gave a small wave at the dumbfounded Taehyung as the elevator door closed.

Smiling once again, Byul continued her whistling toward her own office. She had a party to plan for the night.

***

 

Moonbyul did not even look up from the report in front of her when her hand reached blindly for the ringing phone on her desk, let alone check the caller ID.

“I need your help.”

Her eyebrow involuntary rose and she checked the caller ID just to be sure, “Are you sure you’re calling the right person?”

“And why wouldn’t I be?” came the annoyed reply.

Byul laughed softly, “You’ve got to admit though Hyejin-ah, it’s not like you always knocking down my door for help. Sooooo.... what can I do for you?”

Hyejin scoffed from the other line, “Please, you’re the interim partner for our criminal department, if not you, who else should I brainstorm with? Can I come to your office?”

“Oh wow, this must be big. You’re actually asking for permission.” Byul laughed as Hyejin spewed out a string of curses at her and decided to stop her teasing, “You know what? I’ll be in your office in 5.” 

Byul hung up the phone, wondering which case that would prompt Hyejin to ask for her help. In her years of working with Hyejin, she could count with one hand the amount of time Hyejin asked for help. “Interesting....”

 

She crossed path with Wheein on the way to Hyejin office, she was walking with a meek looking man in his 30s that she presumed was a client. They shared a brief nod at each other and Byul reminded herself to call the restaurant back to confirm the reservation for the night, and to remind Yongsun to be on time.

Stepping inside Hyejin unusually immaculate office, she found the short haired woman pacing the floor, deep in thought. “What’s up?” she noted the weariness on Hyejin’s face and her curiosity increased.

Hyejin looked up and gave Byul a weak smile, she walked briskly toward her table and picked up a thick folder before handing it over to Byul.

“Can you give me a second opinion?”

“New case?” Byul took the folder to the couch and plopped down, eyes quickly scanning the documents in front of her.

“Yes, I asked Wheein to confirm some facts with the Client in the meeting room just now. I just want to toss around some ideas with you. This one would be tough, because it’s not the first complaint filed against him.” Hyejin’s voice sounded tight and she rubbed her forehead to staunch off the headache at bay.

“He doesn’t have history of violent, which is good. But he went to psychiatrist before, so we probably have to ask his permission to check that record. I could poke holes on the complainant’s story but the court usually won’t favor such tactic, they will be sympathetic to the alleged victim and I don’t want to aggravate them....”

Byul suddenly threw the folder on the table and rushed toward the door, cutting Hyejin’s words mid sentence, “Byul? Where are you going?”

“Where am I going? I’m cutting this bullshit in the bud, I will go to that meeting room and tell that man nicely that we will not accept his case, that’s what I’m going to do!” her stormy eyes bored into Hyejin and the younger woman nearly flinched at the anger that reflected on Byul’s dark eyes.

“What? You can’t do that, we already signed the engagement contract with him.”

“As the partner of this law firm, yes I can. And I will, just watch me.” Her ponytail whished as she turned her back on the younger woman.  She moved to open the door when Hyejin’s voice stopped her.

“That’s it? You’re just going to break the contract just like that? You won’t even listen to my reason for taking this case? Are you questioning my judgment?”

Byul tightened her grip on the door knob at Hyejin’s indignant tone, she spun on her heels and pinned Hyejin with a deadly glare, her voice deep and cold when she addressed the younger woman, “I questioned your judgment the minute you actually agreed to take on this case. He is a man with a history of stalking and sexual harassment and you actually dare... YOU FUCKING DARE to take on this case when all of us agree to never take on these kind of cases again!”

Hyejin narrowed her eyes and stood her ground, “I did the background check myself. You know that I will never take on the case if I think that he’s even remotely guilty. All of the complaints against him were dropped, there was no proof that....”

“For god sakes! I saw the settlement agreements with all of the THREE complainants against him! This is his fourth complaints! That should be your first fucking clue to drop the case!”

“He’s a _chaebol_ , Byul. Those people just took advantage of him and you know how the up and up works, they hate scandal. They would rather throw money at any potential problem rather than turning nothing into something.”

Ignoring Hyejin’s reason, Byul rushed back toward the table and grab the folder. She flicked through the documents until she found the signed engagement contract. She took out the document and walked briskly to the shredder machine beside Hyejin’s desk.

“BYUL!” Hyejin shocked gasp didn’t stop Byul from pushing the papers through the machine. Its crunching noise worked as background sound as the two stared at each other.

“How could you....” Hyejin looked at Byul, disbelief written all over her face.

Byul walked past her toward the door, “No, how could YOU.” She slammed the door on her way out and walked briskly toward the meeting room.

***

 

Her hands were shaking when she reached the dreaded meeting room. She brushed them over her blazer, in an attempt to calm her nerves down. She took a few cleansing breath and opened the door to the meeting room, a pleasant smile plastered on her face.

“Mr. Park? Nice to meet you, I’m one of the partners with this law firm.”

The man stood up and bowed slightly, “Ah yes, I heard a lot about you, Miss Moon. Thank you for taking on my case. This is really embarrassing, I’m sure my father would scold me again for this.” He weakly sighed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Yes, about the case, I’ve just been alerted that we might have conflict of interest and would not be able to represent you in this case. I’m sorry.” She delivered the news with a quick efficiency. She noted the confused look that Wheein sent her way, but she ignored it and focused her attention toward the crestfallen man.

“Ah really? But I thought Miss Ahn said...”

Byul cut him off smoothly, “We just received the alert, that’s why as the partner, I felt obligated to tell you myself. Of course we could refer you to a different law firm if you want.”

“Ah yes... okay....” he looked back and forth between Wheein and Moonbyul, at a loss of what to do. “I’ll be taking my leave then, thank you.” He bowed slightly again and moved toward the door before looking back at Wheein, “Miss Jung, is it okay if I have your number? If I have questions for...”

“I don’t think that would be wise Mr. Park.” Byul smiled tensely, “It would be unethical for a lawyer to give advice to anyone that is not their client.”

“Ah I see... okay, thank you very much for your help.” He smiled sadly and then turned to leave.

“What just happened?” Wheein look confused.

Byul was about to answer when Hyejin barged in into the meeting room.

“You actually did send him off!!?? You have no rights. No rights to overruled my judgment, he was my client!” she glared vehemently at the calm face of Byul who simply looked at her with a cold indifference.

“Take that up to the managing partner then. If my memory served me right, it was within my power as partner to decline legal service to those that we, as _partner_ , believe could create conflict of interest with the law firm or would cause harm.”

Hyejin crossed her arms and scoffed, “Harm? Really? You didn’t even listen to my arguments! I’m telling you, Byul. That man was innocent!” the grit on her husky voice obvious as she yelled at Byul who simply pinned her with a cold glare.

“Three fucking complaints and you could still think that he’s innocent? Look at all of the previous complainants! He has a fucking type! All petite women in their 20s and you fucking let Wheein within the same vicinity with that man alone, you already out of your freaking mind!”

Shock ran through Hyejin’s body before the rage took over. * _How dare she...._ * She crossed the gap between them with a purposeful stride, her voice strongly even, “Do you really think that I won’t take this up to the managing partner?” she asked Byul pointedly, eye contact never wavering.

“This is not a matter of discussion. I already made my decision. We will not take his case.”  

“Do you honestly think that Old Jung will side with you after he listened to the full story? You let your past mistake cloud your judgment! Or are you fucking ashamed to admit that the mighty Byul made mistake? I’m not YOU!”

The silence was deafening then, as oxymoron as it sound, the ringing silence seemed to engulf the three women, blocking any other noises besides their own beating heart.

“You... It was a mistake. I’ve made mistake and I’ve learned from it. You were there, you knew what happened. This case? It was as if history repeat itself all over again and you want to take that chance? You really dare?” the words were delivered in a clipped distant voice as Byul stared at Hyejin.

“But this is different! I told you that I did the background check myself! Byul, you have to trust me... I would never take the case if I didn’t think that the man was innocent.” The conviction on Hyejin’s voice rang clear. She looked deep into the clouded eyes of her best friend before continuing softly.

“I remembered what happened just like it was yesterday... what happened to you and Yongsun...”

“Stop. Don’t you dare finished that sentence or I swear to god.... “

“What? So you can hide in your apartment and lick your wound alone? So you could keep up the whole facade of being strong and tough while I knew... I knew that it was killing you? You have nightmare every single fucking day and you think that I didn’t know that!?”

Byul took a step back as Hyejin’s words pierced through and ripped her conscience apart. She closed her eyes tightly, her hands clenching painfully and her laugh was hollow as she looked at Hyejin with such sorrow filled eyes, “Fuck you...” she walked painfully slowly toward the guilt stricken Hyejin and brushed past her toward the door.

“Byul... I....”

“Fuck you all to hell.” Were her last parting words before she opened the door and left.

“What the hell was that?”

Hyejin was too occupied with the repeated ‘ _stupid’_ reverberating through her mind to hear that Wheein asked her a question, until the younger woman stood in front of her and shook her out of her reverie.

The short haired woman gulped when she saw the plethora of emotions on Wheein’s face, but the confusion and anger was the most prominent. Hyejin pinched the bridge of her nose, her head was pounding wildly, still can’t believe that she just turned the situation from bad to worse.

Minutes lapsed and Wheein could see the remorse etched deeply on Hyejin’s face, but she really doesn’t have it in her to be sympathetic.

“Wheein, I....” she rubbed her face with both of her palm and sucked in a deep breath, “Look, no offense, but I overstepped my bound just then and... I can’t do this right now.” She shook her head and turned, leaving the bewildered Wheein alone. 


	10. Chapter 10

Running toward Byul’s office, Wheein ignored the strange look that people were giving her on the hallway. She burst into the office only to find it empty. No sign of the owner whatsoever. Wheein cursed and quickly dialed Byul’s cell-phone number and cursed again when the phone went straight to voice mail.

She debated whether she should call Yongsun but voted against it, she didn’t want to alarm the older woman. Wheein once again ignored the curious looks from the on-lookers as she walked back to Hyejin’s office only to find it empty as well, “Un- _freakin_ -believable.”

Dialing Hyejin’s number as she grabbed her bag and headed out to the elevator, Wheein wished she could kick something or someone when Hyejin didn’t pick up the phone. Resisting the urge to just scream, she walked into the empty elevator and pushed the Ground button with more force than necessary.

Wheein tapped her shoes and looked at the number slowly dwindling down with each floor that it passed. She kept pressing the close button, hoping that it would make the elevator move faster without interruption. “Come on... Come on....”

Wheein tried to calm herself before calling Byul again for what seem like the hundredth time and groaned when she kept getting the same voice mail message, “Where are you....”

She almost broke into a run when the elevator door opened, her fingers kept pushing alternating-ly between Byul’s and Hyejin’s numbers and she cursed both women when she couldn’t reach either one of them.

“You have got to be kidding me....” she walked out of their office building, debating whether to go to Byul’s apartment or to Hyejin’s, not really sure that she would actually find them there, but it would be a start.

“Miss Jung?”

Wheein nearly jumped when she heard her name being called, she turned around to face the source of the voice and came face to face with their client? former client? She’s not sure anymore but she quickly gave him a small bow nonetheless.

“I’m sorry if I startled you....”

Wheein forced a smile and shook her head, “It’s okay, I was the one who are not paying attention.”

“If it wouldn’t be a problem for you, I just....” the man sighed and tucked both of his hand on his pants, “I know that Miss Moon said that there is a conflict of interest, and that your law firm can’t represent my case. It’s just that I really like the way you and Ms. Ahn handled my case and I was just wondering what exactly is the conflict of interest and how can I make them go away? Well... My dad will do that for me of course, but I’m sure that we could work something out?”

“I’m sorry Mr. Park, but I think Miss Moon would be more suited to answer your question. I’m just a junior associate, so I’m not really sure...”

“But you’re the managing partner’s daughter, surely you could ask around? I really want your law firm to represent me.” The man looked hopefully at Wheein bordering on desperate and Wheein shifted on her feet nervously. She honestly didn’t know what to do, at the moment all she wanted, no... she needed to find Byul and make sure that she was okay.

“I cannot promise you that our law firm will represent you, but I could ask around.” She smiled a little, and noticed how the man’s face seemed to brighten up at her answer, “I’m sorry, but I’m in a hurry, I will contact you if I have any news, will that be alright?”

“Ah, of course, I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time. If you don’t mind, can I have your number so I could follow up on the news?”

Wheein bit her lips and pretended to check on her phone and looked at the man apologetically, “I’m sorry, I really am late to my next meeting. But, I do have your contact number. I promise I will call you after I have the news.”

“Of course, do you want me to send you? I brought my car with me.”

Wheein quickly shook her head, “Thank you for your kind offer, but it will be easier for me to just take a taxi. If you’ll excuse me... ” Wheein gave him a quick bow and rushed over the side walk without looking back, oblivious to the lingering gaze that the man gave her until she turned the corner of the building and was out of his sight.

***

 

Wheein was nearly in a state of panic when she still couldn’t find both Byul and Hyejin on their home.

Desperate, she finally called Yongsun and told her a redacted version of the story. She simply said that Byul and Hyejin had a big blow out at the office and now both of them are unreachable.

The older woman promised the frantic younger woman that she would help searching for their friends and that she would send Wheein the addresses of hang out places that they frequented.

A message popped up from Yongsun soon after with a list of potential places and direction on how they would split up the search. Committing the list of places on her memory, she hailed down a taxi and gave out the address to one of the bar in Hongdae.

Wheein was keyed up by the time she came out from the third bar empty handed. She felt like she was already stretched past her limit and would snap at any given time. She looked at the list again and cross checked it with the list of places that Yongsun already checked out. They were down to five more potential places. Wheein rubbed her eyes tiredly, this is getting ridiculous.

She was so lost in her thought she accidentally bumped into a person while walking down the crowded street of Itaewon. Murmuring a quiet apology, she kept on walking until she heard her name being called.

Wheein felt a small pang of unease stab her on the stomach when she – for the third time that day – came face to face with the nervous face of the man that caused today’s problem.

“Mr. Park.”

“What a coincidence to meet with you again. I was just about to grab some dinner, would care to join me?” he asked with a genuine smile on his face.

“I’m sorry, I’m about to meet up with my friend.”

“Oh? Do you mind if I join you then? I don’t really like eating alone.”

Wheein almost stammered to find an excuse to get away and blurted out the first thing that came into her mind, “It was a date, sorry.”

“Ah... of course. Some other time then?”

“Uh, yes of course, I’ll just be going then.” She flashed him a little smile and hurriedly walked away from that place, her heart beating hard against her ribs. That encounter caught her completely off guard, it was odd to keep bumping into that man more than once in a day. Shoving the thought on the back of her head, she sighed and picked up her pace to the next place when her cell phone rang.

“Where are you!?” barked Wheein into the phone when Hyejin finally called her back after discovering 60 missed calls from both Wheein and Yongsun.

“Still in Seoul, call off the search party.” Hyejin’s voice was slightly slurred and Wheein had a feeling that the woman was half way drunk already.

“Why aren’t you answering my call? I’ve been worried sick! Where are you?”

“Down town.” Was her only reply, but Wheein heard the jazzy sound on the background, * _There’s only one jazz bar that she frequented, that should narrow it down_ *

“I’m coming over, don’t even think of moving from your spot.”

She heard a slow chuckle from the other line, “Am not planning too.”

Hanging up, Wheein tried calling Byul again to no avail and quickly texted Yongsun, telling her that she was on her way to meet Hyejin and hope that Yongsun would have better luck on finding Byul.

***

 

Wheein let her eyes wandered around the mildly full jazz club, over the bar and the big plush sofas scattered around the room. She released a deep breath that she didn’t realize she’d been holding when her gaze fell on the lone figure sitting on the big plush sofa at the far corner of the room.

She noted the opened bottle of red wine chilling on a bucket of ice, but from the looks of it, it cannot be her first bottle of wine. “You’re drunk.”

Hyejin looked up and smiled lazily, swirling the wine glass on her hand slowly, “I’m not.”

Wheein sighed and sat down, pouring herself a big serving of red wine, she drained her glass in a minute. God, she needed the drink. She turned her head back toward Hyejin, ready to grill her with questions when she noticed the faraway look on the other woman’s face. Pouring herself another glass of wine, Wheein simply looked at her – opting to keep her mouth shut – at least for a while.

Her phone buzzed and a message from Yongsun popped up, informing her that Byul was home – _d_ _runk_ _off her ass_ – but home. Wheein released a breath of relief but her relief was short lived when another message popped up. Byul just sent Yongsun away, asking to be left alone, but promised not to do anything stupid.

“Byul’s home.” She blurted out.

Hyejin sipped her wine slowly and didn’t say anything, but Wheein noticed that the distant look on her eyes lessened considerably.

Wheein reached out and laced her fingers together with Hyejin and watched as Hyejin blinked back her tears and the grip on her proffered hand tightened. A shaky breath left Hyejin’s lips and Wheein saw how Hyejin unfolded piece by piece, her usually stoic friend, looked incredibly fragile at that very moment.

“Do you know that I started off on the law firm as Byul’s assistant? She handled criminal litigation back then, all high ambition and cocky as hell.” Hyejin said out of the blue and shared a sad smile with Wheein, “She was amazing. She never lost a case. Not even one.” She whispered before finishing off her drink and simply stared at the empty wine glass for a minute.

“She and Yongsun... they were legendary in their rivalry. They went up against each other in so many cases and their entire court room match was an epic battle. You should see how they countered each other’s arguments, it was mind blowing to watch. They were my inspiration....” Hyejin chuckled sadly, lost in her memory, “I aspired to be just like them.”

She sighed and signaled to the waiter for another bottle of wine, “I think both of us need more drink for this.”

“What happened?”

Hyejin’s voice was bitter when she replied, “A client happened. A sick manipulative bastard and a sorry excuse of a human being happened.” She dropped her gaze down before continuing, “He stalked a 12 years old girl – _a freaking child_ – the parent filed for complaint. There was an investigation and the prosecutor office along with the police linked him to several other victims, all teenagers. The trial was a mess, all of their evidences are shaky and all the victims are either too afraid to testify or couldn’t remember his face when he molested them.”

She muttered a thank you when the waiter came with her order and topped off their glasses. She waited until the waiter left them before finishing off her glass, “Like I said, that man was a sick manipulative bastard, he somehow managed to make Byul to believe in him. We all did, including your father. We fought tooth and nail for that case and Byul... our mighty Byul managed to get him acquitted out of technicality. Innocent until proven guilty and the prosecutor office had no solid proof.”

Lost in her own memory, Hyejin shivered. Goosebumps raised on both of her arms, naked fear shown from her eyes, “Yongsun was the prosecutor for that case, she appealed the decision, but the man was released nonetheless. He... “ Hyejin cleared her throat – the words stuck on the roof top of her mouth – as if refusing to be told.

“He might be acquitted from all of the charges, but his image was already in tatter. He was a _chaebol_ – his family owned a couple of building complex – so when his family disowned him for bringing shame to the family, he was livid. He... uhm... kidnapped Yongsun out of revenge.”

Wheein – who had been listening to the story quietly – paled. She didn’t want to think the worst, but with the man history... she can’t finished her train of thought, she refused to make any kind of assumption.

“It was past midnight when one of our client got arrested for drug possession, Yongsun was the assigned prosecutor, so they agreed to meet up at the police station so Byul could arrange for a deal. She was on her way there when she saw the bastard grabbed Yongsun off the street, knocked her out and took her into his car.”

A pained expression crossed Hyejin’s face, the memory too painful to recall.

“I think that was the moment that Byul realized her mistake, she was the one that alerted the police and actually tailed them with her own car to one of the abandon building that his family owned. It was a living nightmare, the man had a gun and held Yongsun hostage, so the police can’t take him down easily.”

Hyejin raked her fingers through her hair, her eyes were bloodshot as the fatigue of the day settled in, worsened by the memory. “Your father received a call from the police because Byul insisted to negotiate with the man to release Yongsun. She offered up herself as bait.”

Wheein took a sip of her wine – lest she hurled the glass across the room – apparently Byul has a hero syndrome, or ... “She felt responsible.”

The short haired woman nodded sadly, “But it was not her fault, it was not anyone’s fault but that sick bastard.”

 

The two of them were lost in their own thought when a soulful voice permeated the room. The two of them looked up to the stage, finding that the empty stage already filled up with a live band. Wheein glanced at her wrist watch, 10.00 PM. It had been a long and tiring day. 

“When your father and I reached the place, it was already surrounded by the police. We begged and plead for Byul to change her mind, but she was persistent. That hard headed woman....” Hyejin finished off her drink and poured another glass.

“You probably should stop drinking, how many of that bottle that you already finished off?”

Hyejin looked at the worried line forming on Wheein’s eyes and chuckled, “Not enough. Fine, I’ll order some food and water. Do you want anything else?”

The younger woman shook her head, she was too wired to eat and the alcohol actually felt good, warming her aching body and her battered heart. She didn’t like the way the story progresses, but she needed to know how it ended.

Signaling for the waiter once again, Hyejin ordered some finger foods and bottled waters, before she leaned back on the couch.

She closed her eyes and felt the room melted away and transported her back to that dreaded day, “The man refused to negotiate with the police, but he agreed to talk to Byul. Only Byul. So she went. Byul went inside that building.”

Hyejin shifted on her seat and sucked in a huge breath, “She was inside that fucking building for 3 fucking hours. You have no idea how scared I was for her.... your dad was out of his mind with worry. We have no visual, no sound, nothing. We just waited... and waited... until we all heard a gun shot fired and the police rushed into the building.”

She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at Wheein from her semi-reclining position, tears gathered in the corner of her eyes before it slipped out and rolled down her cheek.

“When the police escorted them out of the building, they had cut and bruises on their faces... Byul’s blouse was torn and she had blood on her lips and knuckles. They were rushed to the hospital for inspection but were released immediately. Just some superficial wound they said. It was five years ago and both of them still refused to tell me what exactly happened inside that building. It was 3 longest hours of my life. I can’t imagine how they must’ve felt.”

“I want to cut off his balls and put it in a blender.” Wheein blurted out without thinking and Hyejin genuinely laughed at her remark.

“Take a number.”

 

They stayed silent for a moment, watching the band played an up tempo jazzy tune and soon after the food came with the bottled waters. Hyejin reached across the table and took a bottled water, her throat was parched from all the talking and the effect of the alcohol on her weary body began to show. She just wanted to curl up on her bed and restart the day all over again.

“Is that why Byul is so protective toward Yongsun unnie?” it was barely a whisper – but Hyejin heard it just fine – she nodded.

“They became inseparable ever since, they were each other support system. Your father gave Byul an extended leave of absence, however long she needed. You should’ve seen her back then, Byul can’t eat, she barely sleeps, she lost so much weight it was alarming and she refused to talk to anyone but Yongsun.” Hyejin heaved a pained breath at the memory and shook her head.

“And then, a month later, she came back to work, like nothing ever happened. She asked for a transfer to the corporate department, which your father gladly gave her and just get back to work, business as usual. You know what she told me? She said that human is a resilient being, they can be bent but no matter what, they won’t break. They just need some time to either be comfortable bending or to re-adjust themselves.”

Wheein looked down at her own white knuckles – she subconsciously been gripping her own hands as she listened to the story – and forced herself to relax. She desperately wanted to call Byul again, even just to listen to the sound of her voice through her voice mail message. After listening to Hyejin’s story, it was all make sense now.

“The new case hit too close to home. Stalking and sexual harassment by a _chaebol_. No wonder she reacted so strongly.”

Hyejin growled in frustration, “But this case is different!”

“Why? What makes you think that this case is different? You said it yourself, Byul believed the client was innocent until she found out in the worse way possible that he was not. What if the same thing happened to you? What if that man was smart enough to hide the truth and .....”

Hyejin sat up straight and looked Wheein right in the eyes, “Because I hired a private investigator to check his story.”

She sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly, “Believe me. I almost decline the case when I saw what the case was about. But I tried to give him a benefit of a doubt. Everyone around him seemed to think that he’s just a spoiled _chaebol_ that will run to daddy every time there was trouble and daddy will make it all go away.”

Wheein snorted and took a french fry from the plate and munched, “Well... I’m not surprised, I think I heard the word ‘ _daddy this.... daddy that...._ ’ enough time in the short time I interviewed him today.”

Rolling her eyes at Wheein’s answer, Hyejin sighed and picked up a chicken leg and started munching as well, “Yeah well... I got the sense that he IS a daddy’s boy. But it doesn’t make him a criminal.”

“So, what did the private investigator have on the case?”

Hyejin knitted her eyebrows in concentration, trying to remember the details of the report through her alcohol addled brain.

“All of the previous complaints were made by women that want easy money. The first woman used his crush on her for her own gain and when the family refused to let him marry her, she schemed to get money out of him. The other two women worked in his father company and heard the rumor, so they tried to capitalize on the rumor to get settlement money. His supposed latest victim? She was a marketing agent for his company as well, and guess what? She was deep up to her neck with debt.”

“So that’s why you believe that he’s innocent?”

Hyejin nodded tiredly, “I just wished that I handled it better when Byul reacted to the case badly. I was out of line back then, but I was so frustrated with Byul and her refusal to hear me out. I....” she sighed again and raked her fingers through her hair harshly, “Is it possible to re-do today?”

Wheein gave her a small smile, not unkindly, “Well, I think we all want a reset button for these kinds of day, but we can’t all have what we want right? Your heart is in the right place, Hyejinnie... but yes, you could’ve handled it better.”

Wheein contemplated on what to say to the woman in front of her. Guilt, remorse, sadness clearly written all over her face. She reached out and gave Hyejin’s thigh a gentle squeeze, “Go home, take a long hot bubble bath and sleep. I’m going over to Byul’s place after this to check on her and I’ll try to explain your side of the story to her. It will be fine, she loves you like her own sister.”

Hyejin cocked her head slightly and just looked at Wheein until the younger woman looked anxiously at her as time passed by, “What? Do I have something on my face? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Wheeinie...”

“Yes?”

“Walk away... Byul might be my best friend....” she started to explained herself but then stopped and heaved a deep sigh, “Me and Yongsun, we always say that whenever Byul entered a room, a woman always ended up crying. Byul.... she doesn’t do relationship and I don’t want to see you get hurt because of her, so this is my advice to you, as a friend. Walk away.”

Wheein felt her heart break a little as she listened to Hyejin’s heartfelt words. She patted Hyejin’s thigh softly and nodded, “Thank you.... but don’t worry about me... I’ll be fine. Now, listen to _my_ advice. Go home. Get some sleep.” She leaned in and kissed Hyejin’s softly on her cheek and stood up, gathering her bag with her.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” She gave Hyejin another small smile and walked out of the bar with a heavy heart.

 

Wheein drew in a deep breath when she stepped out from the bar, her thoughts running a mile a minute – almost working on overload – cataloguing the events of the day. She navigated through the street slowly, it was almost midnight, but throngs of people still wandered the street of this gritty expat-friendly neighborhood.

She replayed Hyejin’s words over and over again, * _walk away...._ * Wheein smiled ruefully and shook her head, sending a silent apology to Hyejin inside her mind. She hailed a taxi and gave the driver the address to Byul’s apartment.

She knew that she won’t be able to walk away even if she tried.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: It's darker than the previous chapters (I think) so.... Rated M. Other than that, enjoy the story guys :D

Wheein stood in front of Byul’s apartment, her hand poised to ring the bell but dropped it on the last minute.  She worried her bottom lips with her teeth, debating whether or not to use the security code that Byul told her to use for exigent circumstances. Well, it is sort of – _kind of_ – exigent circumstances right? She needed to make sure that Byul was okay.

She took a deep breath and punched in the code, letting herself in into the dark apartment. The apartment was quiet, * _maybe she was already asleep_ * but somehow she knew deep inside her heart that Byul was still wide awake.

She walked deeper into the apartment slowly, unsure of herself. * _She sent Yongsun unnie away, what makes you think that she would welcome you with open arms, Jung Wheein?_ *

Still debating with herself, she changed her course, no longer walking to the bedroom but walked toward the liquid cabinet instead. She spied the content of the cabinet and took out the strongest alcohol available there. * _Whatever, I need the liquid courage anyway._ *

***

The first sign that someone has entered the room was the half full tumbler filled with a clear liquid suddenly appeared before her, held by a slender hand. The second sign was the slight dip on the bed as Wheein climbed on the bed and sat beside her. 

“Russian Whisky.” Wheein’s clear voice, spoken in a soft whisper made Byul reached for the tumbler wordlessly, acknowledging only by taking a generous sip of the strong alcohol.

“Yongsun unnie told me that you were drunk when you sent her off.”

“I stopped drinking after she left.” Byul shrugged and took another sip of her drink.

Wheein let her eyes trailed over Byul’s body. She already changed her working attire into a loose white long oversized t-shirt that covered her until mid-thigh. She looked like the picture of calmness, leaning back on the headboard of her bed with a tumbler held loosely on her hand, the moonlight coming through the curtain-less floor to ceiling sliding door providing the only source of light and created a halo around her.

She looked like a Greek moon goddess, so serene and beautiful, yet Wheein saw the underlying tension on her body, the rigidness of her shoulder, the quiet storm brewing within her eyes.

Wheein wanted to reach out and smooth the stress line on her eyebrows, she wanted to wrap Byul with her arms and shield her from this cruel world, but instead of doing so, she blurted out the first thing on her mind.   

“I was with Hyejin before I came here. She was a wreck...” she paused when Byul let out a bitter chuckle, “...  and she told me what happened 5 years ago...”

Byul froze and took another sip of her drink, “She needs to learn to keep her mouth shut.”

Wheein angled her body to face Byul better, “She cared about you, you know?”

“She has a funny way of showing it then.”

The younger woman winced at the anger lacing Byul’s word, she could sense the disappointment and the bitterness of being betrayed through each word, “Yeah well, I _did_ tell her that she should’ve handled it better.”

Byul sneered, “She should’ve _known_ better.”

Wheein was quiet for a moment and when she finally spoke, Byul could hear the sadness in her voice, “Like I told you, she was a wreck....”

“If she was such a wreck, maybe you should’ve stayed with her then. I’m fine.”

“I care about you too.”

Byul scoffed, “You shouldn’t.”

“I don’t see the reason why I shouldn’t. You’re one of the most considerate people I have ever encountered, you respect me, you’re willing to lend your ears whenever I needed it, and you’re patient with me even when I treated you badly after a long hour at work….”

Byul shook her head fiercely, it was too much for her to hear such caring words, especially coming out from Wheein’s lips. The person that Wheein was describing was not her. Not at all like her.

“Stop. Just.... stop. You got me all wrong.”

Wheein frowned, studying Byul for a moment, “Why?”

“You and I both know that if I was not hell bent on preserving my winning ratio, if only I just be more cautious... if only I was not so goddamn cocky, then maybe that man would be in jail and he would not kidnapped Yongsun and....”  Byul stopped her ranting as her gaze locked with Wheein’s clear dark eyes that looked at her with so much understanding, it hurts.

“We’re not talking about the present anymore, aren’t we?”

Wheein looked pensive – as if trying to mull over the words in her head – she then tucked an errant hair under her ear and smiled depreciatively, “I’m so not good at this… okay… uhm… you’re not the only lawyer on the team, _hell_ , my father was the partner in charge and that man fooled all of you. My father. Hyejin. The other associates. Not just you.”

Wheein took a deep breath before continuing, “I believe that you were just doing what you believed to be the right thing to do. An idealist to the core, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Bottom line is? It really doesn’t matter what happened, as long as at the end of the day, your conscience are clear. Now, do you believe that you did the right thing back then?”

Byul smiled, a sad little turn up of her lips as she simply stared into the depleting liquid, “I used to... God.... I used to... Now? I’m not.... Hell, I’m not sure about anything anymore.”

Wheein deftly laced their fingers together and let Byul gripped her hand tightly, caressing the back of Byul’s hand lightly with her thumb.

Minutes ticked by and neither women uttered a word, letting the silences befall around them and just be.

Byul silently placed the tumbler on the night stand before laying her head on Wheein’s shoulder and closed her eyes. She sighed and burrowed deeper into Wheein’s warm body, taking in her sweet scent and let Wheein’s caress on her hair lulled her to sleep.

***

Byul awoke with a sharp intake of breath and a silent scream dead on her lips. She blinked slowly, once, twice, realizing with a wince that the move only pushed the droplet of tears down her already tear stained cheeks. She groggily looked at the glass sliding door to her right, noting how the dark still embraced the sky and the lone moon still shine.

A shift on the bed gave away the movement to her left and soon, she saw Wheein’s face hovering above her. Her eyes looked sad, Byul noted as she sighed when Wheein’s hand caressed her cheeks softly, wiping away the remnant of her tears. She tried to speak then, but one slender finger landed on her lips as Wheein leaned over and touched their forehead together.

“You had a nightmare.” Whispered Wheein as her lips brushed softly over Byul’s forehead.

“Hold me. _Please_.” Byul whispered then as the drops of Wheein’s tears mingled with hers. Wheein hesitantly moved to straddle her, but Byul just smiled and nodded at her, as if saying that it was okay.

Byul buried her face on the crook of Wheein’s neck and tightened her grasps, relishing the warmth exuding from the body on top of hers. Warmth that threatened to overflow through her, somehow in the arms of this young woman, she felt safe for the first time in a long time. Somehow, when she’s with Wheein, that place inside that always ache just stop hurting.

Equipped with that realization, Byul drew a shaky breath and with murmured voice began to tell her something that she never shared with anyone. She began to tell her just what exactly happened on that faithful night.

“When I got inside the building, I saw Yongsun was barely awake, slumped on the floor of the lobby. Whatever it was that he used to drug her, it was still affecting her... He had a gun and the look on his eyes.....” Byul closed her eyes, there was an unmistakenable fear threading her words as she continued softly, ”He was desperate and desperation can make anyone do anything. He was ranting like a maniac for the most part, I tried to talk him down, I really did....”

 

**_–_ ** **_Flashback –_ **

“This type of things should never happen to me, Byul. It could happen to anyone else, but not me!” His voice was hard with fury.

Byul swallowed nervously, she needed to keep him talking until he agreed to let Yongsun out or until the cavalry could come in and take him down, “Things doesn’t have to end this way, Ji Hoon. We could still fix this, just surrender for now, I’ll get you out again, I promised. I got you out the first time, right?”

“No... Not this time. I’m screwed already. My family disowned me! And it was entirely that woman’s fault!!!” he pointed the muzzle of his gun toward Yongsun’s body and Byul’s heart nearly stopped.

“Wait! Killing her is not an answer! Look, if you kill her, the police would just storm in to the building and take you. Worse, they could kill you.”

He obscenely laughed, “One way or another, I’m going down.... so, I’ll take anyone that I could take with me. Her. Those police outside. You.”

Byul stared at the barrel of the gun he suddenly pointed at her. A bead of sweat trickled down her neck but she refused to break eye contact. When she didn’t close her eyes, Ji hoon moved forward slowly toward her.

The gun was cold on her over heated forehead, yet, she still refused to flinch. She watched on as he caressed the trigger slowly and when he pulled it backward with a resounding ‘ _click’_ that seemed to reverberating from every direction of the empty building, Byul swallowed the unshed tears that stung at the back of her eyes.

She took a deep breath, “Before you kill me, tell me the truth... did you stalked and molested all of those kids? Come on, I just needed the truth, that’s all.” She was counting on the fact that scum like him usually love to talk about themselves.

The gun stilled and he pulled it back away from her forehead, a maniacal glint shown from his eyes.

“Of course I did. You and the rest of your team just too dumb to see it.” An ugly smirk twisted up his face and Byul felt like someone grabbed her gut and pulled harshly. She can’t feel her legs as icy coldness spread from her toes up to lodge deep in her heart. * _She helped free this sick bastard._ *

“Why?”

A cruel laughed echoed through the entire lobby and he threw Byul a pitying look, “Oh Byul... how naive are you? I needed you and your law firm to clean up my mess, and all of you did the job beautifully. This whole thing should end the day I was acquitted, but dear old dad got tired of me. He fucking disowned me!”

Byul saw Yongsun stirred and slowly sat up, still groggy from the drug but conscious.

“No... I mean why children? Can’t get it up for a grown woman? Is that why you stalked and molested children?” Byul smiled pleasantly at him, she needed to keep his attention on her and off Yongsun, she needed to give Yongsun time to escape this hell hole.

Ji Hoon’s face turned bright red, “Shut up! Shut Up!”

Byul laughed sarcastically, “I hit a nerve did I? So it’s true then? How many times did you try to fuck a woman and failed? Or your dick is just too small that...” Byul’s words were cut short by the backhanded blow that hit her face.

* _Fuck_! _It hurts!_ *

Byul staggered on her feet and spat the blood to the floor, the corner of her lips cut by the barrel of his gun. She licked the blood from her lips and snorted, “So that’s it? It’s because you’re not man enough for a woman you prey on kids?” She tsk-ed and laughed on his face, “Guess what? I bang more women than you would ever be in your entire life time.”

He growled and pushed Byul backward until her back connected with the wall behind her in a sickening thud. Using his body to pin Byul to the wall, he brought his face close to hers until she could smell his putrid breath. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Gripping Byul’s hand tightly, he pressed it against his crotch, “I’m more than enough as a man!”

Byul smiled slowly, “Honestly? I don’t feel anything.”

He sneered and backhanded her once again until she landed hard on the floor, the air knocked out from her lungs. “I’ll show you.”

Two heads swiveled simultaneously when a strangled gasp left Yongsun’s lips and Byul closed her eyes, * _Shit_ *

“Look who decided to come out and play.” He went toward the paled Yongsun. 

Yongsun flinched when he stroked her hair, tangling his fingers into her dark tresses. She locked her gaze with Byul from across the room, their fear and disgust reflected on each other’s eyes.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, counselor! I was just telling Byul here, just how much fun I was having with those children. What do you say Byul, shall we play with the lovely counselor here? She’s really pretty isn’t she? Oh, I know! Let’s play a game!”

Yongsun grunted when he yanked her hair roughly, pulling her up on her feet. He laughed as he dragged Yongsun and pushed her toward Byul who quickly caught her and wrapped her arms around Yongsun’s shaking body.

Byul narrowed her eyes to the man, trying to guess his next move, “Why don’t you let her go? I’ll play with you.” She shifted, angling herself to shield Yongsun from his prying eyes.

He shook his head and sneered, “And why would I want to do that?”

“Look at her, she was barely conscious, it wouldn’t be as fun.”

He looked at the shaking woman for a minute before he shook his head, “No, the bitch stay.” He paced the lobby then, muttering to himself until he faced them once again, an ugly grin spreading on his face.

“Let’s play Russian roulette. If she passed all five chambers, I’ll let her go. Now, sit!” he forced Byul and Yongsun to sit face to face, and like a referee he sat between the two women.

He took out all but one bullet in the chamber and spun it. He gave the gun to Byul with barely contained glee, “Shoot her.”

Byul hesitated and it earned her another blow to her face, “I said shoot her!!” he yelled on her face.

Dazed with dark spots peppering her vision, Byul took a deep breath and blinked the spots away.

With shaking hand, she took the gun from him and wondered whether shooting him would ended this nightmare, but if it was an empty chamber, there would be a price to pay and she had Yongsun to worry about.

Byul pointed the gun at Yongsun, she could feel the bile rising on her throat and her vision blurry with tears.

“It’s okay... It’s okay... Don’t worry about me. Just shoot, Byul.” Yongsun gave her a watery smile and Byul closed her eyes tightly, this was all her fault, this whole situation was her fault.

She gasped when the gun was wrenched out of her grasp. She opened her eyes and saw him pressed the gun to Yongsun’s temple and pulled the trigger. Byul’s heart stopped for a second, coldness seeped through her entire body and the time seemed to slow all around her.

The loud ‘ _click’_ echoed throughout the lobby and he laughed maniacally, clapping his hand with glee, “Lucky bitch!” he backhanded Yongsun with the gun and pointed the gun to Byul.

“See Byul, it’s not that hard to pull the trigger now, was it?”

Byul looked at the way tremor ran through Yongsun’s body, her tightly shut eyes and her tear stricken face and the ache in her heart intensified. She didnt think anything could be more painful for her than that exact moment. And it was all her fault. * _What have I done....._ *

“Your choice, Byul... We could keep playing this game or we could continue where we left off before the counselor here interupted.” He leered at her and she had to force down her bubbling nausea, flinching when his hand reached out to touch her face.

 “Let’s play again.” Yongsun’s shaky voice stopped the touch from reaching its destination and Byul was stunned.

Ji hoon laughed, “Oh ho! The counselor got some balls on her! You hear that Byul, let’s play again!” He checked on the bullet and spun it again, “Have you ever think about killing anyone, Byul? I have, I wish I could put this gun to my father.....” he put the gun on Yongsun’s neck and grinned at Byul.

Byul ignored the look that he sent her away, focusing on the clear eyes of Yongsun and the small sad smile that lingered on her lips, * _I’m sorry.... Oh God... I’m sorry....._ * her heart skipped when Ji Hoon squeezed the trigger and another ‘ _click’_ reached her ears.

“Oh my... will you look at that, the counselor has more lives than a cat!” he sat in front of her then, gun extended toward her, “Your turn now, darling. And this time? If you hesitated, I’ll kill her and then you’re going to follow her to hell.”

Byul looked at the proffered gun and felt calm washed over her, it didn’t really matter whether they played the game or not, the maniac will kill them in the end. She saw it clearly in his eyes. He has no intention to let them go. “Then I should send you to hell first.”

She lunged at the gun on his hand, using the momentum of her body to slam him to the ground. He toppled backward with a grunt, his hand pushing at her but Byul’s knee slammed on his abdomen hard, pinning him to the floor.

She put pressure on the hand that held the gun and slammed it repeatedly to the ground as she kept pushing her knee onto his abdomen to keep him down. They struggled with the gun until it fell out of his grip, skittering off away from their struggle.

Letting the burning fury that she had for the man fueled her, she drew back her right hand and punched him repeatedly on his face. She felt her clothes ripped as he tried with all of his strength to push her off him, but she ignored the stinging pain.  

The muscles in her left arm quivered, tiring with the effort to hold him down, but Byul was fueled by desperation, for Yongsun’s life, for her own. Using the last of her strength she delivered another punch to his face until she heard the crunch of his nose breaking, praying that it would be enough to knock him out.

Ji Hoon screamed as blood spurted out from his nose, he growled and pushed off the tired Byul off his body, his hand went to her neck and squeezed as he straddled her. Byul tried to push him off but she felt her energy drained with each gasping breath that she took as he squeezed her neck harder.

The gun echoed loudly in the empty building and Byul felt the grip on her neck loosened before Ji hoon slumped on top of her and went still, blood bubbling out from the wound on his shoulder blade.

She pushed him off of her and tried to sit up, her hand went to her aching neck. Across the room, she saw the look of shock on Yongsun’s face, gun still gripped tightly on her hand. She wanted to reach out to her, to ask for forgiveness but her whole body felt numb. She could barely move as the adrenaline left her body in a rush. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and slumped back on the concrete floor.

 

**_– Present Time –_ **

An exhaled of breath was all that she could muster, who knew that professing the terror of that night that haunted her dreams for so long could simultaneously free and drained her. Wheein moved then, she caressed Byul’s cheek softly before her lips followed her hand, letting her soft lips caressed the contour of Byul’s face.

She raised Byul’s knuckles to her lips and kissed it gently, just a mere touch of her lips before her kisses moved to the inside of her wrist. She then gently lifted the white shirt that Byul wore, leaving her bare from the waist up before gently urging Byul to turn on her stomach and peppered her back with small kisses that left Byul breathless.

Byul drew a shaky breath when a pained realization hit her, the kisses were positioned on places where that man had hurt her. The wrist that he gripped, her back that collided painfully with the wall.... A sob escaped her lips then as Wheein kissed her neck.

“Wheein....” the whispered name was both a plea and reverent chant merged into one.

She turned around and as she looked deep into Wheein’s eyes, the burgeoning feeling that threatened to burst out of her left her breathless, “Wheein, I....”

A slender finger touched her lips gently, “It’s okay.”

Byul shook her head, her eyes held too many pain, “I can’t give you what you want....”

A heart wrenching kiss was her answer.

Wheein captured her bottom lips softly, nibbling at it slowly before moving up to capture her upper lips, she deepened the kiss, swallowing Byul’s moan at the heated contact. She broke the kiss and whispered softly in Byul’s ear, “I didn’t ask for anything.... just let me love you tonight...” she nuzzled Byul’s neck, breathing in the soft smell of her before running her tongue along the column of her neck.

Her hand moved to cup Byul’s breast, pressing their bodies even closer together. Slipping one of her legs between the older woman’s legs, she groaned when she encountered the heat there.

Byul moaned, she couldn’t remember when she wanted anyone so badly. She wanted to devour Wheein with her lips, to satisfy the hunger that seemed to burn her alive with the sight, sound and feel of her. She wanted to savor this moment, each and every precious second and seared it into her memory. If this is the only chance for her to love Wheein, then she wanted to make it last.

Their eyes locked as Wheein pressed their forehead together, her breathing raged with want, her body burned with need. Byul reached out and traced Wheein’s face softly with her finger – a small feather light touch – down to her collarbone and to the soft slope of her chest. “You wear too many clothes.”  

Wheein laughed and took off her clothes, her bra soon followed until her perfect milky white skin was bare before Byul’s eyes. Byul cupped one of her breast carefully, lifting it, brushing her thumb softly against the erect pink nipple and Wheein moaned, her eyelids fluttered shut.

Soft kisses covered her chest and even lower still until Byul engulfed her nipple into her warm mouth, suckling it gently, guided only by Wheein’s moan of pleasure and the hand in her hair. Byul looked up through her lashes and met the smoldering gaze of the younger woman, her dilating pupil turning her eyes impossibly darker.

Byul captured Wheein’s lips in a searing kiss, their tongue danced in a silent battle for dominance. Her hands caressed the plane of Wheein’s flat abdomen until she reached the top of her suit pants, “Off.” Byul rasped between kisses and Wheein complied, sliding her pants off along with her panties without breaking their increasingly heated kisses.

Wheein hissed when Byul’s hand found the pulsing heat between her legs, parting her gently with her fingers, stroking along her labia with a gentle stroke. Byul eased a finger into her then, before withdrawing almost completely only to enter her again with another finger and Wheein groaned, her hips rocking in time with the thrusts of Byul’s finger.

“More....” she gasped, grasping Byul’s shoulder in a tight grip.

Byul leaned her forehead on Wheein’s shoulder, adding another finger, she entered her again, pushing into her deeper with each thrust, ignoring the slight pain when Wheein’s fingers bored down on her shoulder. Wheein clung to her, shuddering as wave upon wave of pleasure ran through her body.

“I’m close....” she bucked against Byul’s hand, capturing Byul’s lips in another passionate kiss as she moved faster against Byul’s fingers. Her breath hitched when Byul’s thumb stroked the engorged bundle of nerve, caressing Wheein’s clit until she could almost feel the impending climax of her lover.

“Byul....” a choked moan left Wheein’s lips as pleasure seized her and she almost forgot how to breathe, trembling as she came.

Byul cradled Wheein in her arms, her hand stroking Wheein’s back softly, coaxing her down from her orgasms. She distinctly aware of the pulsing need between her legs, but she was content just holding Wheein, just like this. They both stayed there in each other embrace, their bodies rapidly cooling off.

A groan left Byul’s lips when Wheein’s hand trails down the length of her body, “Wheein...”

Wheein smiled, reveling at the slight quiver that she induced from her caress. She nipped at Byul’s shoulder and brushed the hard tip of Byul’s nipple with her thumb, causing the older woman to arch into her touch. She flicked the nipple before tugging and rolling it with her fingers when Byul made an impatience sound.

She looked at Byul’s face and found her eyes dark, hazy with lust and she felt an answering pull on her lower gut, “Stop teasing.” Byul whispered and Wheein bit her lower lip slightly. She pushed Byul gently to lie on the bed and leaned forward, her hair tickling Byul’s already sensitive chest as she kissed her way down to Byul’s flat abdomen.

Their eyes met again in a heated exchange as Wheein slowly lowered her panties down and Byul swore that her heart could stop any time since it was beating too fast, drumming against her ribs. She closed her eyes when the soft lips caressed her inner thigh, trailing soft kisses to the place that needed it the most.

Byul groaned when a soft warm tongue separates her wet folds and dip deep into her opening. She felt the tip of Wheein’s tongue leaving a trail along her labia, never touching the small bundle of nerves that’s already swollen, ready to be touched.

A light flick of a tongue against her sensitive clit caused Byul to buck her hips up, she tangled her fingers into Wheein’s hair and pushed her head gently, desperate for more contact. She groaned when Wheein worked her tongue over and over through her folds, her touch changing from soft to firm, driving her closer to the edge.

“Wheein please....” she dug her heels into the mattress as her body arcs into the mouth that firmly attached to her heated center, crying with pleasure when Wheein lips closed around her swollen clit, the tip of her tongue flicked slowly back and forth over the hardened nub, sending jolts of ecstasy through her taut body.

Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the sheet tightly, her hips moved with increased speed as she desperately searching for her release. Her lips parted as waves of pleasure run through her body when Wheein sucked on her clit, “fuck....” she groaned as her pleasure rises and exploded, consuming her in a blinding orgasm.

Byul had no idea how much time passed as she laid there on her back, breathing hard against the waves of pleasure that still rippled through her.

Wheein pulled the blanket over their naked body and snuggled deeper into Byul’s arm, warming her chilled skin with the heat from Byul’s body. She pressed a kiss on Byul’s neck and smiled with her eyes closed when she felt Byul wrapped her arms around her petite body. A soft kiss landed on her forehead and she distantly heard a soft ‘ _thank you_ ’, but she’s not sure since her consciousness already slipping into slumber, too sated and happy as she fell asleep in Byul’s warm embrace.


	12. Chapter 12

Byul rolled over slowly, her left arm felt numb from being slept on the entire night, and groaned when her face was hit by the blazing ray of sunshine that came through from the balcony.

She shielded her eyes with her arm and lay there for a while, her body felt well rested for the first time since she didn’t know how long and a small smile tugged on her lips. The memory of last night came tumbling down and she felt liquid heat course through her entire body and settled down low, * _Great, I got the equivalent of a morning erection._ *

She turned her body, hoping to find her sleeping lover, only to find the other side of the bed empty. Byul frowned, slowly sitting up, she leaned against the headboard and grabbed her mobile phone from the night stand. She turned on the phone and saw that it was already 9.00 AM, she flicked through a bunch of last night missed calls from Wheein and Yongsun, and one from Yongsun this morning.

Padding slowly toward the living room and continued on to the kitchen, she stopped on her track when the subtle flowery scent that lingered near the liquor cabinet hit her. She closed her eyes as her heart clenched slightly, it was a remnant of Wheein’s perfume, the same scent that envelope her during their love making. She shook her head, trying to clear her own mind, it was no use to dwell on something that was not meant to be.  

Standing there near her kitchen island – waiting for the freshly brewed coffee to cool off – she looked around her empty apartment with lonely eyes, * _Is it always been this empty?_ *

Byul shook her head and chuckled bitterly, not really sure whether she was thinking about the apartment or her own life.

***

Wheein quickened her stride down the nearly empty street near her apartment, cursing the alarm that failed to wake her up this morning. She was almost reluctant to leave the bed and its occupant this morning, but the walk of shame out of Byul’s apartment was enough, she didn’t need rumor to start circulating if she came into work with yesterday’s clothes.

She glanced at her wrist watch, debating whether to take the subway or just hail a taxi – it didn’t really matter honestly – since it’s already 10 AM which mean she’s late anyway. She almost jumped when a car horn blared and a Mercedes S Class pulled over near her, the car window lowered to reveal a nervous smile aimed at her and Wheein’s heart beat just a little faster.

“Good morning, Miss Jung. On your way to work?”

Wheein gave him a tight smile and bowed slightly, “Ah, yes, and I’m late already.” She was about to bid him goodbye when he stepped out from his car and walked over to open the front passenger door.

“I could take you, I mean, I’m going to your office to meet with Miss Moon anyway.”

Wheein froze, thinking hard for a reasonable excuses that wont offend him, “Oh, yes, but I was on my way to meet up with a client, so I won’t be heading to the office. You should go on ahead then, I’m sure Miss Moon already waiting in the office, and she’s a very punctual type of person.”

“Ah I see, alright then. So, you live around this area?”

“My boyfriend lived around here. I’ll see you around then.” She said quickly, hoping that he would get the hint, sending him another tight smile she started to walk quicker away from him. Her hand reached down to her bag and pulled out her mobile phone, she dialed the first person that came to her mind.

“Dad, can you send out the car for me? Yep, I’m late. No, I’m not sick, just overslept. No, I’m not out drinking last night. Daddy, pleaseeee, can you just send out the driver to pick me up? I’ll be waiting at that coffee shop near my place. No, I haven’t had breakfast, I was late, remember? Okay, I’ll grab some food as well there, texted me when the driver is already on his way okay? Love you too.”

Wheein walked faster and slipped inside the coffee shop on the other side of the road, her heart rate slowed a little when she heard the warm greeting of the waiter as she entered and felt even better when she saw that the place was half full with people grabbing brunch.

She picked the table near the end of the room and sat with her back against the wall, making sure that she got eyes on the door. She texted Hyejin then, telling her that she would be in the office around lunch time. She sighed and ordered, waiting for her dad’s driver to pick her up. There’s no way she’s going out there alone, that man starting to freak her out.

***

Hyejin frowned when she received the text from Wheein, it was not usual for her to be late like this. She remembered that Wheein said that she was going to Byul’s place last night, did something happen with Byul?

She didn’t have time to dwell on her worry when the subject of her thought suddenly walked into her office without knocking. Hyejin blinked when Byul put down a large plastic cup filled with her favorite Oreo coffee ice blend in front of her, “Show me what you got on the Park case.”

She looked up at Byul and saw the older woman simply raised one of her eyebrow, prompting her to quickly pull out a thick folder from her drawer. She stood up, spreading the private investigator reports on her work desk.

“First ‘ _victim’_ , they dated for a couple of months until his family found out and told him to break it off, she filed the complaint a week after he broke up with her.” she pointed at a transcript of mobile chats, “We found the chats between him and the woman, she asked for compensation money, she said that she was so devastated that he didn’t fulfill his promise to married her that she would need USD 1 million to mend her broken heart.”

Byul whistled at the amount and nodded to Hyejin to continue.

“Second and Third ‘ _victims’_ actually collaborated to set him up, they both worked at Daddy’s company as staff, limited exposure to Junior, but they both filed harassment complaints to HR. Daddy fired them, so they filed a complaint to the police. The case was closed even before the ink in the complaint dried, they settled because Daddy didn’t want scandal.”

Hyejin took the ice blended coffee and slurped noisily, waiting for Byul to react but received none, she sighed and then pointed at the last investigation report, “Last ‘ _victim’_ , the one that he is up against right now, she’s a marketing agent for the company that Daddy set for him. She was neck deep in debt, I saw the chat between them, and it’s still in his phone.”

Hyejin cringed slightly, “It was not pretty, I mean, I wanted to buy a new pair of eyes after I read their sexting.” Byul gave her another raised eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

“They did have a sexual relationship, but that’s it. No stalking and definitely no sexual harassment.”

“Why filed a complaint against him then? Why not just continued on and have him pay off her debt? He didn’t peg me as someone who would have problem to shower his ‘ _date’_ with gifts and money.”

A well manicured finger tapped on a paragraph on the report, “This is why. He did give her some allowance money, but it was not nearly enough to cover her debt, so she asked for more. He got tired with her demand and broke it off, she retaliated.”

“How much money are we talking about?”

“USD 500,000. She got a very expensive lifestyle, so we’re talking about debts for penthouse rent, import car purchase, credit cards and plastic surgeons.”

Byul looked pointedly at Hyejin who simply shrugged, “Those boobs and ass are DEFINITELY not real.”

The platinum blond lawyer snorted, “Call Mr. Park, tell him to come over to our office and then call the woman, set up a settlement meeting, tell her that we’re willing to pay her USD 250,000 but she need to drop the complaint by the end of today’s business hour.”

“Are you sure you want to pay the settlement without discussing this with him? I mean, he probably won’t agree with the amount.” She looked at Byul skeptically and the latter just smirked lazily.

“She won’t come here if we don’t give her something, once she got here, show her the findings that your investigator compiled. We’re going to tell her how it all will end. She will drop the complaint and she will never try to contact or even think about bothering Park junior ever again, if she’s still adamant to follow through with the complaint, then we’re going to give all of these reports to the police and filed a counter-complaint against _her_ for blackmail and for defamation. We’re talking about jail time here, there’s no beauty salon or high end boutique inside, so she better choose wisely.”

Hyejin was stunned, “Right. Of course.”

“Don’t follow the law too closely when dealing with people like her, sometimes we need to be tricky as well.”

“Yes, I’ll set up the meeting right away. Will you be there?”

“You’ll lead, I’ll second chair.” Hyejin nodded, hand already reaching for her phone when she paused and looked at Byul with an unsure expression.

“I will consult with you the next time we have cases like this.”

Byul nodded, “Make sure you do.” Silence engulfed them then, a flow of different kind of conversation taking over.

The short haired woman felt a lump on the back of her throat and swallowed harshly, “Of course.” There was a crack on her usually confident tone, which didn’t left unnoticed by both of them.

Byul rapped her desk lightly and gave her a small smile before turning toward the door, “Let me know the time of the meeting later, so I could shift my schedule.” The crack was acknowledged and then put into a box, never to be mentioned again.

Hyejin nodded although she knew that Byul couldn’t see her, she then drew a shaky breath and said, “Will do. Thanks.”

***

Wheein was confused when Hyejin asked her to prepare the form statement to drop a complaint for the Park case once she arrived at the office – but she didn’t put too much thought on it – beside she was instantly overwhelmed with work that she didn’t even think about checking on Byul nor asked how Hyejin was feeling.

She yawned, the tiredness from last night catching up with her, she entered the meeting room and froze when she found Byul already sitting there, “You’re in this meeting too?”

“I’m the one that asked Hyejin to set it up.” Byul shrugged, her eyes taking in the woman in front of her and her body betrayed her by reacting. She remembered the softness of Wheein’s skin, the way she feel, the way she made _her_ feel and had to avert her gaze to clear her mind from the memory of Wheein writhing in her arms.

“Huh... so I guess the meeting was a success then, He managed to convince you to take on his case.” Wheein plopped down a couple of chair away from Byul, creating a distance between them.

“What meeting?” Byul looked at her with a confused look on her face, but before Wheein could answer, Hyejin entered the room with both Mr. Park and the beautiful but obviously plastic woman who filed the complaint in tow.

“Please have a seat, Miss Han.” Hyejin said pleasantly, gesturing toward the seat in front of her and calmly took a seat between Byul and Wheein while the man took a seat beside Wheein.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet us today.”

“Cut to the chase, I want to see the money transferred to my account before I dropped the complaint.” The woman waived her hand impatiently and looked at Park Junior with disgust, “You have no idea how scared I was, I think I will need to consult with a psychiatrist because of him. USD 250.000 was cheap compared to how I feel”

Mr. Park blinked and stammered confusedly at Hyejin, “Uh... Miss Ahn...”

Hyejin shook her head – telling him to keep silent with her eyes – and looked back at the woman with a calm smile, “Yes, it was cheap isn’t it. But then again, so are you, I mean you said so yourself in the text that you sent him, you want him to call you a whore. Now, I know you showed that text to the police without giving them the rest of the text. Hmm... I forgot what it meant, Wheein-ssi?”

Wheein bit her lips to stop herself from laughing at the appalled look on the woman’s face, “It would be an entrapment, Miss Ahn.”

“Yes, which mean intent to trap, if your brain has difficulties to understand that. It would also mean that your complaint is a false accusation, which is a criminal act in our country. And this whole set up with agreeing to drop the charges over compensation would mean that you have the intention to extort money from our client. That’s also a criminal offense. Now, I would drop the prostitution charges because I’m in a good mood today, Miss Han, however, we are still talking about.... how long was it Wheein-ssi?”

Wheein quickly calculated the sentencing time inside her head and provide the answer with a smile on her face, “More than 10 years in jail especially if we file the motion that the jail time should be served concurrently.”

Hyejin chuckled and looked at the paled woman with a smirk, “And of course, we will also file a civil suit against you for defamation, due to Mr. Park high standing in the society, I would say that his reputation would worth around USD 100 million? But you know what? Since we found out about your current debt status, we would be generous and sue you for USD 50 million only, and since we know that you won’t be able to pay them, we would gladly exchange the amount with additional jail time.”

The woman was stunned, her hand was shaking when she subconsciously used it to move a strand of hair from her face, “Now wait a minute, I was the victim here! He sexually harassed me!”

Hyejin pulled out a report calmly, “Here’s a transcript of all of your text messages with our client, you see, our client actually saved all of your sexting. I have no idea for what, but it was a good thing, because it shows here that the two of you have a consensual sexual relationship.”

“But that was before I broke up with him! Afterwards he was obsessed with me and started stalking me!”

The short haired lawyer turned a couple of pages and pointed at the new page, “Our client broke up with you, Miss Han. Do you want me to read the text out to you? Let me refreshed your memory then:

‘ _Let’s broke up, you used me like a walking ATM, I already give you allowance money every week. It should be more than enough._ ’

So you see Miss Han? We have all of the evidences compiled already, you might think that he would settle like he used to, so that the police won’t investigate further, but do you honestly believe that you would get away with it? It never crossed your mind that he would fight back?”

The woman’s eyes darted back and forth, gauging the reactions around her before she bowed her head, hands clasped tightly together in front of, “He never went through with any investigation, he always settled....”

Hyejin calmly closed the report and looked at the increasingly frightened woman, “Yes, but everyone has its limit. This time our client had enough with all of these efforts to extort money from him.” She looked at Wheein who quickly gave her the statement form.

“Here’s the form statement to drop the complaint, I would suggest you to sign it.”

“Don’t I get anything? It doesn’t have to be that much money... I mean, come on, I had sex with _him_.” She threw Park Junior a disgusted look, “Look at him and then look at me, don’t I deserve some kind of compensation.” Desperation laced her voice as she seeks for understanding from the lawyers.

Byul smiled, “You hear that Eric?”

A solemn male voice answered from the speaker of Byul’s mobile phone, “Yes, I’ll alert the police to stop the investigation toward Mr. Park and start the investigation toward Miss Han instead. Hyejin-ssi, I would need you to file a formal charge though.”

“No problem, I’ll go down to the station after this. See you there.” Hyejin spoke up louder and then looked at the shocked face of Miss Han, “That was the prosecutor.” She sighed and looked at the woman with pity, “I told you to sign the form and be done with it, guess you just decided your own destiny then.”

 

The four of them stood awkwardly inside the meeting room after Miss Han was escorted out of the building. The man can’t stop bowing to express his gratitude, “Thank you.... Thank you all so much, I mean... I don’t know how else I could say thank you, but... yes, thank you. I will tell dad to give the law firm a success fee for this and retained all of you. That was amazing work. Really.”

“We’re just doing our job, Mr. Park. But my advice to you, be careful with whom you’re dealing with next time, find a nice girl to date, settle down, get married and just live a happy life.” Hyejin smiled at him and laughed slightly when his turned blazing red.

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and chuckled, “I’ll keep that in mind.” He smiled and then looked at Wheein with a dreamy look when all three of them were unaware, already getting ready to exit the room.

“Wheein-ssi, can you please escort Mr. Park to the front lobby?” Hyejin opened the door to the meeting and looked at the startled Wheein.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Please come with me, Mr. Park.”

The man bowed again, saying another repeated thank you before following Wheein to the elevator.

Byul watched the bubbling man walked away with a shook on her head, “Someone need to teach him the reality of the world, not everything can be settled by throwing money around.”

“Well, I blamed the parents. He was used to getting whatever he wanted and daddy will clean up his mess for him. That’s just bad parenting.”

Byul chuckled and bumped her shoulder with Hyejin, “Good work today.”

The smile that Hyejin gave Byul afterwards was blinding, “Thank you. I can’t believe you get Eric to listen in on the meeting.”

The platinum haired lawyer just shrugged, “My gut feeling told me that the woman won’t back down easily and I hate those kinds of people that think they could destroy people’s life just for their own gain. Karma is a bitch.”

She looped an arm around Hyejin’s shoulder then, “I should treat you for a beer or two for a job well done.” Her face cringed then, “But I seriously going to assign a man to his case if his father indeed retained us, that guy is just plain weird.”

Hyejin laughed, her arms instinctively went to wrap around Byul’s waist and squeezed lightly, “Give Taehyung to him, he’s pretty enough anyway.”

Byul’s grin widened, “Wicked. I like that idea.”

***

Wheein raked her hands through her hair, ignoring the stare that the man gave her, hoping that the elevator will open soon.

“Thank you for your help, Miss Jung, I mean, thank you probably wasn’t even near enough to show you how grateful I am. Daddy would be pleased.”

The young woman gave him a quick smile, “We’re just doing our job, really. Besides, it was Miss Ahn that did all the hard work.”

“Yes, but you helped a lot too. Do you think that maybe we could have some dinner sometimes? My parents would love you. I mean, you are beautiful, you come from a good family and….”

Wheein sighed heavily and cut him off, “Look, with all due respect Mr. Park. I’m not interested. It’s not you, okay, I’m just not interested in men in general.”

He blushed and stammered a little bit, “But I thought you said you have a boyfriend?”

“I lied. Just like you lied when you said that you had a meeting with Miss Moon. You never had that meeting with her this morning didn’t you? You looked confused when this meeting started and Miss Ahn mentioned a settlement. Why did you lie to me?”

He looked down on the floor awkwardly, “I just… I think you are really pretty and you’re the type of girl that my parents would approve of, so I just want to get to know you better. I thought… I thought that if we could just chat for a while then maybe… you know…”

Wheein scoffed, “Nothing good would ever come out by starting it with a lie. A word of advice? If a woman said that they are not interested? Don’t push. I think in a long run, it would help you find that perfect someone for you and also help you stay out of trouble like this again.”

She looked relieved when the elevator opened, “Have a nice day, Mr. Park.” She gestured toward the empty elevator and looked pointedly at the man when he just stood there rooted to the spot.

“You won’t accompany me to the front lobby?”

Wheein shook her head, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

He nodded solemnly and walked dejectedly toward the elevator, “Are you sure that….”

Wheein shook her head again and smiled sweetly, “Nope.” She bowed lightly then turned around, walking away from the elevator toward the emergency stair to their law firm’s research center just one floor down. She would rather take the stair than be in the same vicinity with the man. Innocent or not, that man is still creepy.

 

Wheein rubbed her eyes tiredly and yawned widely, she had been researching past judgment rulings for two hours’ straight, dead tired on her feet, she just wanted to go home and sleep. She tiptoed on her feet and struggled to put back the heavy book back on the shelves, cursing her small height, when a hand covered hers and put the book back to where it belonged.

Her heart skipped a beat when Byul’s voice whispered on her ear, “You left this morning.”

She could feel the heat radiating off Byul’s body and knew that if she leaned back even just an inch, their bodies would touch.

“Well I can’t go to the office with the same clothes two days in a row now, can I?” she thanked the heaven above that her voice remained steady, unlike her traitorous heart.

Byul chuckled, her puff of breath caressed Wheein’s ear, making the young woman shivered, hyper aware of their closeness, yet unable to move.

Her breath hitched when Byul’s hand sneaked into her slightly crop top and splayed across her bare abdomen. “Byul…” she warned the older woman half-heartedly.

“What?” Byul whispered, her teeth grazing Wheein’s ear lightly before taking an ear lobe into her mouth and suckled gently.

Wheein moaned when she felt Byul’s tongue swirled over her sensitive lobe, unable to control herself, she leaned her body back against the older woman, giving her a better access, “We can’t…” she whispered the words softly, her determination wavering when Byul trailed kisses from her jaw down to her neck.

“I can’t stop thinking about you, you’re driving me insane….” Byul turned Wheein’s body and slammed it into the shelves, her mouth taking Wheein’s lips in a possessive kiss as her hands went down to the younger woman’s bottom and pulled, flushing their bodies closer together as her tongue slipped in and tangled with Wheein’s.   

Clutching Byul’s neck for support, she responded to Byul’s kiss with equal fervour, any thoughts about why this isn’t a good idea left her brain when Byul hand slide down her body, pushing her skirt up to her hip and slipped a thigh between her legs, rocking rhythmically against her.

Wheein yanked her mouth away when she was close to losing all control, “Wait… Wait! We can’t do it here…”

Byul growl, realizing that they were indeed in a public area and anyone can come in at any time. She grabbed Wheein by the hand and dragged her out of the research center. By passing the elevator, they skipped two stairs at the time to the next floor.

Byul spun Wheein around and pushed her against the door as soon as they entered Byul’s office, her mouth came down hard on Wheein’s lips, while her hand quickly reached back and locked the door.

Wheein’s fingers were trembling with desire as she yanked Byul’s shirt out of her suit pants and started unbuttoning it as quickly as possible. Byul’s lips on her neck only managed to shatter her concentration and she moaned when Byul’s hand once again caressed her bare thigh and hiked up her skirt.

“Wha....” Wheein was disoriented when Byul suddenly went down on her knees and lifted one of her leg and settled in on Byul’s shoulder.

“I want to taste you...”

Wheein’s eyes fluttered shut when Byul parted her panties slightly and her heated mouth licked her in a gentle motion. Bracing herself against the door, she groaned as the licking became a bold stroke, relentlessly driving her insane with each motion.

She was trembling, hand tangled on Byul’s hair, she unconsciously rocked her hips against Byul’s mouth, seeking an end to the pressure that kept on building up between her legs, “Oh God... Byul...”

Byul smiled when she felt the tightening of Wheein’s grip on her hair and licked her harder, faster until she felt Wheein starting to crumble. She pulled Wheein’s clit into her mouth and suck, hard, and within second Wheein’s body started to convulse, a little cry escaped her lips as a blinding orgasm seized her.

“Byul... stop... stop...” Wheein tried to pry herself from Byul as the woman still kept on licking on her sensitive clit, “Come here.”  She pulled Byul up and kissed her deeply, tasting herself on Byul’s lips.

“I haven’t finished tasting....” Byul lifted Wheein up, forcing Wheein to wrap her legs around Byul’s waist for balance. She moved them toward the sofa, lips still fused in a heated kiss, unable to stop kissing each other. They stumbled into the sofa, hands desperately stripping each other out of their clothes.

“This is insane....” Wheein moaned when Byul’s mouth sucked her nipple through her bra, “We can’t keep doing this....”

“One last time... Just one last time... and then we would never do this again.”

Wheein pulled Byul up on top of her, locking their gaze together, “One last time...” she whispered before claiming Byul’s lips in another searing kiss.

***

Their unwritten promise that their last tryst in Byul’s office would be their last flew out the window the next time Wheein went into Byul’s office for a consult.

One minute they were discussing evidence, the next minute Wheein found herself bent over Byul’s desk, skirt hiked up to her waist, Byul’s lips on her neck sucking on her pulse point while Byul’s fingers buried deep inside of her.

Whether they wanted to admit it or not, they can’t seem to stop this delicious dance between them – too in tune with each other – with lust as their melody and desire as their rhythm, its magnetism forcing them to keep on gravitating toward each other.

Without them realizing, they fell into an unspoken pattern of sneaking kisses in secluded places around the office, a little touch here and there whenever they brushed past each other on the hallway and satisfying their needs for each other in the quiet of Byul’s office, which then turned into spending the night alternating-ly in each other apartments.

 

Byul kissed Wheein’s neck slowly, coaxing her body to calm down as her third orgasm washed over her, “That... was amazing....” Wheein’s voice sounded hoarse even for her own ear.

Tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear, Byul grinned and kissed Wheein’s jaw softly, “You’re amazing...”

Wheein snorted and buried her face into the crook of Byul’s neck, “Yeah, right.” She bit into Byul’s shoulder playfully before detangling her body from Byul’s embrace, walking slowly toward the mirror in all her naked glory, she inspected her reflection, making sure that there was no visible mark on her neck. Byul can be quite uncontrollable and she didn’t want to explain herself to Hyejin if she happened to see a love mark on her neck.

“You don’t have to do that.” Said Byul from her lounging position on the bed.

“Do what?” asked Wheein innocently.

“Checking yourself.”

Wheein frowned and check her reflection once again, making sure that there’s nothing wrong with herself, “Why? Is there something wrong?”

Byul chuckled and walked across the room to stand behind her. She looked at Wheein’s eyes through the body length mirror in front of them and wrapped her arms around Wheein’s waist before whispering on her ear, “How can there be anything wrong with perfection? So stop checking yourself before the mirror break because it was too burdened by your beauty.”

Wheein laughed, “Oh my god, you did not just say that.”

Both of them grinned at each other through the mirror, “What? I’m just saying the truth.” Byul rested her chin on Wheein’s shoulder and tightened her hold onto the younger woman’s body.

“You said that to all of the women.”

Byul feigned a hurt look and shook her head adamantly, “No way, Hyejin would kill me if I dare saying those things to her.”

Wheein laughed and slapped the hands that were still holding her playfully, “The women that you slept with, you grease ball.”

Byul was about to reply when she heard her name being called out from the living room, “Is that... Yongsun unnie’s voice?” worry laced Wheein’s voice and Byul nodded. She quickly pulled out a long shirt out of her dresser and put it on, “Let me check on her.”

 

“Babe? What’s wrong?” Byul walked into the living room and found a distraught Yongsun standing there with a lost expression.

“I… I can’t sleep… I just…. Can I sleep here with you?”

She walked willingly into Byul’s open arms and sighed when Byul wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug.

“Of course. Mind you, my room is a mess right now.” Her voice was muffled against Yongsun’s hair but the latter just nodded. She didn’t really care about the mess, she probably would just tidy things up for Byul. The most important thing was she won’t be alone tonight.

“Unnie, are you okay?” Wheein’s sweet voice reached her ear and Yongsun sighed, happy to hear that sweet melody, wait… what??? Yongsun pulled out from Byul’s embrace and saw Wheein stood there a couple of feet away, she looked at the oversized sweat shirt with faded Seoul University Law written across the chest that Byul used to wear, now being worn by Wheein and also Byul’s state of undress and it dawned on her that maybe she just interrupted _something_.

“Uh… did I disturb you guys? Uh…. You know what, maybe I should just go.” She stammered, blush covering her face.

“What are you talking about? Come on….” Byul grabbed her hand and dragged her to the plush sofa, “Sit, I’ll get you some water, you’re shaking.”

Wheein worriedly looked at Yongsun’s slightly pale face and walked back toward the bedroom and when she returned back – while struggling to carry a giant comforter – Yongsun already had a tall glass of water in her hand with Byul sitting closely beside her.

She draped the comforter across Yongsun’s and Byul’s body, before slipping inside of it to sit next to Yongsun. Wheein wrapped her arms around the older woman’s body and laid her head on Yongsun’s shoulder, “Are you okay?” Wheein whispered softly and Yongsun’s heart melts a little, touched by the sweetness in Wheein’s voice.

“I’m okay….” She laid her head on top of Wheein’s and just enjoy the comfort that the younger woman’s provide for a while when suddenly she gasped and sat up ramrod straight, startling Wheein who looked at her with a mixture of confusion and worry.

“Omo! This couch is safe right? I mean, you guys didn’t do it here, right??”

Byul laughed and wrapped her arms around the older woman, “Stop it, you pervert! How can you think about that in a time like this?”

Yongsun groaned and glared at the younger woman, “Well, it’s obvious that you two are sleeping together and what if there’s still bodily fluid…. Eww…. Eww….Hmppphh…” she stopped talking when a laughing Byul covered her mouth with her hand.

“Shut up, you foolish woman, the couch is safe, now sleep.”

Yongsun looked pleadingly at Wheein, “Wheein-ah, tell unnie the truth, is this couch safe?”

Wheein laughed and held Yongsun close, her head once again pillowed on Yongsun’s shoulder and she yawned, “Pretty much safe, unnie. Don’t worry. Now, the bed…. That’s another story.”

“Gah! Too much information! My innocent brain….”

“Innocent my ass…” Byul murmured, already using Yongsun’s other shoulder as her pillow, “Relax, close your eyes, we’re here.”

Yongsun sighed, leaning back against the couch to find a more comfortable position, she felt the warmth radiating from either side of her body slowly calming her. Wheein’s hand draped across her abdomen while Byul held her hand, Yongsun smiled slightly, their presence warming her to the core and she closed her eyes, knowing that the nightmare won’t plaque her that night.

 ***

Afterwards, whenever Yongsun had trouble sleeping, she would call over Byul and Wheein to have a sleep over in her own apartment, saying something along the line of she would sleep better knowing that she didn’t have to worry about hygiene and bodily fluid. Byul rolled her eyes while Wheein giggled at Yongsun’s explanation but agreed to it anyway.

It’s not every day that Yongsun would have trouble sleeping, but she enjoyed the camaraderie that she felt with all of her best friends around and they soon included Hyejin to join their sleepover party.  

Hyejin’s first reaction when she found out about Byul and Wheein was to raise her eyebrow. Her second reaction was to pull Byul over for a little chat while Yongsun and Wheein prepared a night snack to accompany the bottles of Soju that they just opened.

“So… you and Wheein, huh?”

Byul shrugged and said nothing, “I thought you have an allergy for dating.” Hyejin continued, watching Byul’s face for any reaction.

“We’re not dating. We’re just….”

“Fucking? Fooling around? Having sex? Doing the horizontal mambo? Getting each other’s rock off?” Hyejin listed out, smirking when she noticed Byul’s scowl.

“What are you? Sex-Encyclopedia?”

“Well, I’m not wrong right? You said so yourself, you’re not dating her, but you are sleeping with her. So, that’s mean what? Friends with benefit?”

“You could say that.” Byul finished off her Soju and topped it off, wanting nothing more than to end the conversation about her and Wheein’s relationship.

“Did she know?” the teasing tone was gone from Hyejin’s voice, the seriousness of her tone made Byul raised her head and looked at her. 

“About what?”

Hyejin rolled her eyes, “Don’t make me hit you, of course I’m talking about your friends with benefit status!” she whispered harshly, afraid that Wheein could listened in on their conversation although she was in another room entirely, “Please don’t tell me that she thinks that the two of you are dating.”

Byul winced and finished off another drink, “We never talk about it… We’re just…”

“Too busy fucking each other brain’s out?” Hyejin interjected, her face turned even more serious, “Look, you’re both grown up, but I love Wheein like she was my own little sister, so I swear to God, Moon Byul Yi, if you hurt her….”

“I would rather die than hurt her.” Byul’s eyes flashed dangerously and their gaze held each other briefly, a silent communication occurred through their eyes and the message was received.

“Good, because I will skin you alive if you hurt even a single strand of her hair.”

Byul scoffed, “Take a number, she had quite a protection squad around her.”

“Yeah well, she made out of everything good and sunshine and rainbow, what can you say.” Hyejin clicked their soju cup together, “Bottom’s up.” She threw back her drink and groaned, “Good stuff.”

The short haired woman bumped her shoulder into the suddenly quiet Byul, “Just be careful, okay?”

Byul nodded. She looked up when the subject of their conversation walked back into the living room with a shout of ‘ _food’s coming!!_ ’. Two plates of steaming _tteokbokki_ in her hand, her dimpled smile brightened up the room and Byul’s eyes softened at the sight of her.

Yes, she would rather die a thousand deaths before she ever hurt Wheein, that’s for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for the kudos and reading this story here :D I actually posted the story in AFF first, before updating it here, so sorry for bulk updating instead of updating it per chapter. Anyway! Thank you again for reading!!


	13. Chapter 13

A small smile appeared on Wheein’s face when she heard the quiet hum that Byul produced as she poured the freshly brewed coffee into two mugs.

Walking closer to the taller woman she slipped her arms around Byul and tip toed to press a gentle kiss on the back of Byul’s neck, “Good morning.”

Byul smiled when she felt the brush of Wheein’s lips on her neck, enjoying the press of Wheein’s body on her back. 

Still humming to herself, she put down the coffee carafe on the kitchen island before turning around to give Wheein a better morning kiss on her lips, “Morning.”

“You look happy.” Turning around to present Byul with her bare back, she lifted up her hair, “Zip me up please.” Too many nights spent on Byul’s apartment and vice versa, both women already have a special drawer assigned for their stuffs in each other apartment, and just like many other mornings for the past month, they found themselves getting ready to go to work together.

Obliging Wheein’s request, Byul zipped the black dress up and pressed a soft kiss on Wheein’s neck after she finished, “I’m happy.” She answered and chuckled softly when she saw the curious look on the younger woman’s face.

“Your dad hasn’t told you? The new litigation partner will be announced today, so I will be handing over the criminal department’s work to her, less work for me, yeay.”

Wheein’s eyes glinted mischievously, “And what would you with the added free time? You’re a workaholic, I bet you will just bother the other junior lawyers, checking their works and stuff.”

Byul rolled her eyes, wrapping her arms around Wheein’s lithe body, she drew Wheein into her arms and pressed a kiss on her forehead, “And why would I want to do that when I could just spend those times ravishing you?”

“And what makes you think that I will have time to be ravished by you? New partner, remember? She might give me more work to do and I won’t have time to see you at all.” Wheein linked her hands behind Byul’s neck and kissed the sudden pout on Byul’s lips.

“I will talk to her then, or Hyejin, just give all your work to Hyejin.” Byul mumbled against Wheein’s lips and the latter threw her head back, peal of laughter soon followed and Byul used that opportunity to rain tiny kisses on the column of her neck.

“Hmmmm... I want to see you try telling Hyejin that.”

Byul looked up and shook her head, a grin forming on her lips, “Oh no, you’re the one who is going to tell Hyejin, she probably going to kick my ass if I dare suggest that.”

Wheein mocked gasp and poked Byul in her stomach, “And you want to sacrifice me? How could you?”

“But Hyejin loves you! Just give her one of your dimpled smile with the puppy stare and she’ll melt into a puddle of goo. Like seriously, that devil’s mistress loves you.”

Shaking her head and laughing softly, Wheein withdrew herself from Byul’s arm and picked up the cooling coffee, “So, who’s the new partner?”

“It’s a secret, there’s going to be a brief introduction at the end of business day today, and then a formal welcome dinner at the end of this week.”

Wheein blinked, “Wow, really? Alrighty then. Oh, and we need to do some grocery shopping after work and picked up our laundry as well.”

Byul nodded, sipping her coffee carefully, “Do you want to grab breakfast after this? Or go straight to the office?”

Taking a glance at her wrist watch, Wheein nodded her head, “Breakfast sounds good, I’ll text Hyejin so she can join us as well, but you need to hurry and shower now, so we won’t be too late.”

Nodding her head as she gulped the rest of her coffee in record time, Byul pressed a quick kiss on the side of Wheein’s head as she passed her on the way to the bedroom. “Want to join me?” she hollered over her shoulder and threw her discarded shirt which landed perfectly on top of Wheein’s head.

“You’re insatiable! Now hurry up!” Laughing, the younger woman molded the t-shirt into a ball and threw it back toward Byul’s direction, missing the laughing older woman who already ran into the bedroom by a second.

***

 

The office was buzzing with the news of a new partner, speculation running rampant on potential candidates, bets were placed, gossips were exchange, rumor spreads – to  sum it up – almost everybody in the office were distracted to the point that they were only half-heartedly doing their work.

Wheein walked leisurely into Byul’s office and plopped herself into the sofa, “How long do you think the introduction meeting would be?”

Byul looked up from her work, noticing the tired look on the other woman’s face. She walked toward the sofa and put her hands on Wheein’s shoulder, massaging it gently. Wheein groaned, head lolling down, “That feels so good...”

“I’ll ask Old Kwon to keep his speech short, but you probably want to ask your dad the same thing. Long day?”

Wheein just grunted, lost in the pleasure of Byul’s hand on her knotted shoulders. Chuckling, Byul dropped a kiss on top of Wheein’s head, “How about this, we’ll grab something to eat on the way home, then I’ll drop you off so you could sleep in early, I’ll do the grocery shopping.”

“And pick up the laundry.” Wheein mumbled, motioning to Byul with her hand to massage her neck as well, she groaned when Byul strong fingers knead a particular tight spot.

“And pick up the laundry, and I solemnly swear that I will not forget your favorite strawberry yogurt this time.”

Wheein’s reply of ‘ _you better not_ ’ was nearly incoherent because she was enjoying the massage just a little bit too much. Byul grinned and dropped another kiss on top of Wheein’s head.

“Now come on, we need to go to the meeting room for the introduction.”

“Can I just take a nap here? Just wake me up after it was all done.” Wheein whined, holding Byul by the waist and closed her eyes. Byul smiled and smoothed down her fingers down Wheein’s soft dark hair, she tilted Wheein’s face gently, “It would just be 30 minutes’ top, I promised we’ll go home directly after that.”

“Promise you won’t stop by the office and then got distracted by work again.”

“Well, you could just distract me back.” She waggled her eyebrow and received a slap on her butt in return, Byul laughed and kissed Wheein on the lips softly, “Okay, I promised, princess.”

Sighing heavily, Wheein stood up and linked her arms with Byul, “Can you just carry me there? I’m so tired....”

“That would be a sight to see, entering the meeting room with you piggy riding on my back. Now, what would your father think?”

Wheein chuckled a little, “He probably going to have a meltdown, but it was your fault! You kept me up all night!”

“Oh, now you blame me? I remembered you’re the one telling me ‘ _Byul... don’t stop, don’t stop!_ ’” Byul mimicked Wheein’s moan last night and the younger woman pushed her away.

“Ya! Stop it!” She blushed prettily and Byul resisted the temptation to kiss her right then and there, knowing that they won’t have enough time to do what she has in mind right now.

“Fine, no more sex for you for the rest of the week.”

Wheein rolled her eyes and smirked, “Yeah right, like you could resist.”

Byul gasped, pretending to be horrified, “Of course I could, I’m not a sex addict, unlike you.”

The door to Byul’s office opened slightly followed with Hyejin’s impatient voice, “Whatever it is you guys doing? Stop it. People are already waiting for you two love bird.” The door closed again and the two of them looked at each other and grinned.

“Come on, let’s get this over with.” Byul linked their fingers together and opened the door, eager to get the introduction rolling so she can get Wheein home and actively keeping the younger woman up all night again.

***

 

The conference room was packed with people, the senior lawyers sitting down around the giant conference table while the junior lawyers and the rest of the staffs sat on the spectator chairs.

Byul released her hold on Wheein’s hand before they entered the conference room which took up one third of their office floor and took a seat reserved only for partner in the front of the conference table. Wheein walked directly toward the spectator chair about to join the other junior lawyers when she saw Hyejin motioning to her to sit at the seat that she reserved for Wheein beside her.

The room was buzzing with excitement as they waited for the founding partners and the new appointed partner to enter the room.

“Aside from the new partner being a female, did you get any hints from your father or Byul who’s going to be the partner?” Hyejin ventriloquist-ly asked Wheein as soon as the younger woman took her seat.

 “Okay, first of all, that’s creepy. You need to stop doing that, how can you talk like that anyway. Second of all, Byul won’t tell me a thing and I haven’t got the chance to ask dad. So, we’re on the same boat of cluelessness here.”

Hyejin sighed and moved an errand hair out of her face, “Let’s just hope that she would be good.” She said, still using her ability to talk without moving her mouth.

Wheein shook her head, “Seriously, you’re creepy.” She was about to add something to emphasis her point when the room fell into a deep silence as one by one the founding fathers of their law firm entered the board room followed by a beautiful woman.

All eyes were on the beautiful newcomer – all transfixed by her beauty – that they didn’t noticed neither the paling face of Wheein nor the rigidness of her body as soon as the woman entered the room.

The three of them took center stage, Old Kwon was beaming with pride as he started his opening speech.

Wheein barely listening to the old man’s listing out all of the woman’s accomplishment, she knew them all by heart anyway, she averted her gaze when the woman’s eyes found her, lightening up with happiness, * _what the fuck…._ *

She threw an accusing look toward her father, but the old man suspiciously looked like he was avoiding any type of eye contact with her. Her hands were shaking and her body was desperately fighting her instinct to immediately bolt out from the room and just flee. * _No… this can’t be happening._ *

There was a loud clap when the Old Kwon finished his speech and gave the floor to Old Jung to start his speech. Hyejin clapped politely and looked at the younger woman, a tiny smirk on her face, “Well, I’ve got to admit, along with her outstanding pedigree, the woman is Hot. Like seriously, she’s smoking hot.”

Wheein ignored the comment, she threw another hurtful look at her father, who still refused to look at her direction. He gave a fatherly smile toward the general direction of the room and held his hand up to quiet down the excited buzz. He thanked his partner who already stood by him for the past 25 years and how they worked their asses off hand in hand building the firm’s reputation until they managed to be one of the best and largest firms in South Korea.

He regretted the fact that Old Kwon has to retire early, leaving him in charge by himself, but then again, he believe that regeneration was unavoidable, and he has faith in the new generation that would lead them into an even brighter future. Both man hugged and Wheein saw the glistening eyes around the room, touched by the deep friendship between them.

“Now, without further ado, I proudly present to you, the new litigation partner that will head the criminal department, my daughter, Kwon Yuri.”

The clapping hands were thunderous this time, it was heartwarming to know that the one that would replace their founding father was none other than his own daughter. The law firm would be succeeded by one of their own family.

“Wow… his daughter, wow… I only know of his son, who is a doctor, who knew that he has a daughter that is a successful lawyer in the US tuck away. Wheein, you know her right?” Hyejin frowned when she saw Wheein’s pale face and the dark look on her eyes, “Wheein?”

Yuri gracefully took the mic from her father and gave her speech, once in a while trying to make eye contact with Wheein who ignored her imploring gaze.

Hyejin, worried with Wheein’s state of quietness, tangled their fingers together and squeezed gently, “Hey.... are you okay?”

There was a huge lump on the back of Wheein’s throat and she didn’t know how to answer Hyejin’s question.

She felt like she’d been hit by a truck, or by a bolt of lightning, or both. A blast from the past – yes – that probably how she would describe it, she felt like a bomb had detonated and destroyed the perfect mask that she has created into tiny little pieces, the carefully built wall around her broken heart crumbled and the frayed edges of her heart was opened to expose the old wound inside.

She squeezed back Hyejin’s hand in a dead grip when Yuri started talking, the deep alto of her voice pierced through her heart like a spear. She wanted to run. No. She needs to get out of the room as soon as possible. Only the grip of Hyejin’s hand and her polite upbringing prevented her from running across the room and just leave.

Wheein was barely registering the boisterous clapping and the exultant cheers that shook the room as soon as Yuri finished her introduction speech. She watched with emotionless gaze as the crowd shifted and gathered around the new partner, welcoming her to the fold. She quickly stood up and nearly broke into a run but Hyejin’s hand on her arm stopped her.

“Seriously Wheein, what the hell is wrong? You’re shaking. You two know each other or something?”

Wheein saw the worried look on Hyejin’s face and she almost didn’t recognize her own voice when she found it, “Yes. She’s my ex-fiancé. Now, please… I really need to get out of here.”

She heard the shock gasped that Hyejin let out as she released her grip from Wheein’s arm and she quickly took off. * _I can’t breathe…. Dear God, what kind of sick joke is this?_ *

 

Locking herself in one of the toilet stall, Wheein sat down and covered her face with both of her hands. She refused to cry but there was a definite pressure on her chest that made it hard to breathe and her eyes sting with tears, a sob escaped without permission and she quickly covered it with her hand, closing her eyes tight as silent tears streamed down her face.

She angrily wiped the tears from her face, the shock and hurt turned into a blinding fury. She was angry with herself for still reacting this way, for still being affected this much just by the sight of that woman. She thought that she made peace with herself and moved on, but her strong reaction to the sudden appearance of the woman proved her wrong. She was angry with Yuri for agreeing to come back to Korea, knowing that it would put them in the same atmosphere. But most of all, she was angry with her dad. He could’ve told her, could’ve warned her that his partner has decided to appoint her daughter to be the partner in their law firm. He knew that it didn’t end well between the two of them and he didn’t even have the decency to warn her.

Stepping out from the stall, she turned the faucet on the toilet sink and splashed water into her heated face – cleaning the remnant of tears and cooling her down – her head was pounding fiercely and her hands still shook slightly as she dried her face, but she was calmer. She took a deep breath and exited the toilet, she and her father need to have a word.

 

She burst into her father’s office without preamble and unlike her first prediction that she would have to wait for him to return from the celebration in the conference room, she found the old man standing near his collection of liquor, already pouring a good amount of scotch onto its glass, his face drawn and tired.

“How could you…. How could you do this to me!!!???” she planned on having a mature conversation with her father, but the moment she entered the room, the feeling of being betrayed by the only man that she adores came to the surface.

“Wheeinie….” Her father looked at her sadly, guilt burdening the slump of his shoulder.

“You knew… You knew how much she hurt me! You knew that I could barely get out from bed after we broke up! I was depressed for weeks! WEEKS! YOU KNEW THAT SHE WAS THE REASON WHY I LEFT NEW YORK! AND YOU DIDN’T HAVE THE DECENCY TO TELL IT TO MY FACE THAT SHE’S GOING TO WORK HERE???” Wheein was nearly hysterical, her voice was shaking with the anger that seems to consume her.

“Wheeinie, I…. “

“Don’t give me any excuses! It was just plain wrong! What you did was inexcusable! I…. I HATE YOU!” she watched the crestfallen look on her father’s face, the crease age line on his face seemed to deepened and he looked so old and fragile at the moment.

She closed her eyes tightly, the pressure on her chest came back in full force, nearly reaching its breaking point in an instant and she knew that she was second away from crying. Turning her body abruptly, she slammed the door as she went.

Wheein froze when she saw Byul standing there, leaning against the wall in front of her father’s office, “You heard…” it was an understatement, because the deadly calm look on Byul’s face was already confirmation enough.

“Pretty much…” Byul sighed and walked over, reaching out her hand and stroke Wheein’s hair gently, “Come on… let’s get you home.” Wheein nearly broke down when she heard the gentleness in Byul’s voice but she just shook her head.

“I need a fresh air…”

Byul nodded, “I’ll go grab my briefs and get the car, wait for me in the front lobby, clear your head for a while, but I won’t let you go home by yourself.”

Taking a deep shaky breath, Wheein nodded, “I’ll grab my bag then….” She turned away, avoiding eye contact with Byul who watched her leave before entering the managing partner’s office.

“I’m taking Wheein home.”

The old man looked up and nodded absently, taking off his reading glasses, he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, “She hates me….”

“Give her time, she’ll come around.” Byul tucked both of her hands into her pants pocket and regarded the man slowly, “You should’ve told her.”

He nodded sadly, “I know that now… I just thought that she moved on already with you that it wouldn’t be an issue.”

Byul raised one of her eyebrows then, “You knew about me and Wheein?”

The old man scoffed, “I’m old, but I’m not blind.” His voice sounded harsh and the emotion swirling in his dark eyes was intense enough to force Byul to drop her gaze down on the floor for a minute, before regarding the man silently for a couple of more seconds.

She cleared her throat, “I should get going.” and turned around toward the door, not really sure what to do with the revelation that Old Jung knew about her relationship with his daughter.

“Byul… do you love her?”

Byul stayed silent, doing nothing to turn her body around, she never took the time to really examined her feeling for the younger woman, and to have it asked point blank like this by Wheein’s father was disconcerting because she didn’t have the answer to it herself. Was it love?

“It’s… complicated.” Byul pulled the door opened and walked out, it was something that she needed to figure out by herself as well.

 

Wheein tightened her coat around her, the winter breeze chilling her to the bone but for once she was thankful for the cold. It soothes the burning rage which engulfed her heart to a mere simmering ember, the bitterness that clouded her mind parted slowly and she could feel clarity returning slowly to her tired mind.

“Wheein….”

She visibly jerked when she heard the gentle alto of Yuri’s voice calling her name. The memory of that voice calling her name on so many different occasions assaulted every senses of her body in a rush and she wanted to scream.

She didn’t realize that she had closed her eyes until a soft hand cupped her face gently, “Wheein, baby… look at me please…”

Wheein took a step back – away from the touch that seemed to burn the side of her face – she turned her back on the woman that used to occupy all of her living breathing thought, yet now turned into her most painful life lesson.  

“Wheein, I’m sorry….”

“Stop saying that! Sorry wouldn’t change a thing…”

“I know, baby… I know… But I would say it over and over again, if you would just look at me….”

“You said it so many time before, why bother.”

Hands fell on her shoulder and Wheein quickly shrugged it off, whirling around to glare at the woman who broke her heart to million pieces, “Don’t touch me.” Her voice was harsh and her face was a mask of fury as she regarded the woman with unrestraint emotion.

Yuri was transfixed, she could hardly believe that Wheein was standing there in front of her. Every thought of her waking hours had been focused on this moment since she decided to go back to Korea – and here they were – even when she was angry, Wheein was still the most beautiful thing that Yuri had ever seen.

“God… I miss you so much….” Yuri whispered, pain laced her voice but her eyes took in every features of Wheein’s face like a dying woman in the Sahara that just found her oasis.

She balled her hands in a tight fist, she wanted to reach out and hold Wheein in her arms, but the look on Wheein’s face was warning enough that the touch would be unwelcome.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this moment… I can’t believe you are standing here, that I can hear your sweet voice again….”

Wheein shook her head fiercely, putting her palm up to stop the woman from talking further, “Stop. What are you doing? Honestly, Yuri, what are you doing here?”

Yuri sighed, combing her fingers through her hair, she smiled sheepishly at Wheein, “I’m taking over Dad’s practice.”

The younger woman scoffed and crossed her arms in front of her, “Talk about the obvious. I was there in the conference room, I knew that. But what are you DOING here? You never plan to ever return to Korea, you said so yourself.”

“You… Wheein…. I came back because of you, because I love you and I want to fix things between us and…”

Wheein laughed, but her laughter was hollow, devoid of joy, induced only by the absurdity of what she just heard, “Oh you have got to be kidding me. Here’s a news flash, there’s nothing to fix. We are over. Done. Finished. Nothing would ever change that.”

Their gaze held for a moment, their orbs reflecting each other’s pain, until Wheein broke their eye contact, “Look, I know that uncle Kwon has health issues, so I won’t begrudge you taking over for him. Its good, really, he needs all of his family around, but you and me? Forget about it. It won’t happen.”

“What if I told you that I came out?”

Wheein was stunned, a part of her brain refused to admit that she heard those words left Yuri’s lips, “What?”

“I told dad about us. I told him and the rest of my family that I love you, that I want to marry you, that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Yuri bit her lips, her voice shook with the depth of emotion that seemed to pour out from every pore of her body.

Bolden by the slight crack in Wheein’s calm mask, she grabbed Wheein’s hands and held on tight, “I’m not afraid anymore, I’ll shout it to the world if I have too. So please, let me make it up to you… We can fix this.”

Wheein looked at the hand that held hers and felt that her heart breaks all over again, she used to want it, she used to dream of this moment, but the happiness that she imagined she would feel never came. There was no feeling of joy, no soaring hope, nothing. She gently released her hands from Yuri’s hold and looked up at the hopeful face of the other woman, the tears that rolled down left a hot trail on her cold cheek, “It’s too late.... You are too late….”

Yuri shook her head - refusing to accept what she just heard - she reached out her hands to cup Wheein’s face and this time the younger woman let it lingered there, “Please don’t say that...”

Wheein closed her eyes, letting fresh tears to slide down Yuri’s hands and gently pry those hands away from her face, “It’s over... please just let it go.”

“Is there someone else?” she whispered softly before looking imploringly at the younger woman, looking for any sign that there was still hope left in the horizon for them to be together, that they could overcome these hurdles between them, that they could buried the past and start anew.

“Wheein….”

Yuri turned around and saw the corporate department partner standing there. She noticed how the woman’s eyes softened when her eyes fell on Wheein and how her lips curved into a small smile as she reached out her hand, but what Yuri heard afterwards was like a direct blow to her gut.

“Come on, let’s go home.”

She felt the rush of wind when Wheein brushed pass her and nearly ran toward the lanky woman, their fingers interlacing seamlessly as Wheein’s hand reached out to accept the woman’s proffered hand, leaning on the woman’s body. She watched helplessly as they walked toward the parked Audi, ignoring her existence.

“Wheein.” She spoke up, loud enough for them to stop on their track, “I will not let you go. I will not give up on us, not this time.”

Byul winced when she felt the tightening of Wheein grip on her fingers and leaned down to press a gentle kiss on Wheein’s head, “Get in the car.” She let the younger woman go when she felt the barest of nod from Wheein.

Tucking both of her hands into the pocket of her pants, she turned around and face Yuri, just staring at the woman until she heard the sound of the car door being closed.

“Miss Kwon, I would not pretend that I know about your history with Wheein, which I don’t. But let’s keep it as professional as possible shall we? especially since you’re just joining the firm. Have a good night.”

Byul didn’t wait for a reaction and walked quickly toward the car, her mind already focusing on getting Wheein home as soon as possible.

***

 

Both women washed the dishes in companionable silence. Washed. Rinsed. Passed. Repeat. Byul insisted on buying some food on their way home and drove to Wheein’s favorite home cook restaurant. She got Wheein to finish off half portion of her _Samgyetang_ and counted it as a triumph.

“Do you want to talk about what happened in the office?”

“No.” The warning tone was apparent on Wheein’s voice, which of course fell on deaf ear as Byul calmly rinsed her hands under the faucet before reaching for the dish tower to dry her hands.

“It’s better to let it all rather than bottling things up.”

Wheein took the offered towel and dried her hands, she wasn’t sure whether it was the concern that was so plainly written all over Byul’s face or the dam that hold all of her emotion at bay finally reached its breaking point, but the sting in her eyes was enough to make Byul crossed the distance between them and cradled her face gently, touching their forehead together.

“Hey... I’m here... Talk to me, don’t hold it inside you, let it out...”

Wheein covered Byul’s hand with her own, part trying to make Byul to let go, part because she needed the contact, “I don’t know where to start...” her voice a mere whisper as she fought against the rebellious tears that threatened to fall.

Byul gathered Wheein into her arms and pressed a long kiss on top of Wheein’s head as the younger woman burrowed deeper into her arms, bunching the front of her shirt in a tight fist, a whispered ‘ _don’t leave me_ ’ passed Wheein’s lips, the vulnerable whisper gripped her heart in a fierce grasp and tugged, and Byul held Wheein tighter, “I won’t...”

 

“She was my first...” Sitting on the carpeted floor with her back against the sofa as cushion, Wheein sipped her red wine and smiled sadly at Byul, “In every senses of the word, my first girlfriend, my first love, my first everything. She was my world, the sun to my solar system.”

She scrunched up her face then, “Shit, I sounded like a hallmark card.”

Byul chuckled softly, “I was young once, _well I still am_ , but yeah, I remembered how rose tinted world we all lived in when we were young and in love.”

“At least you admitted that you’re old.”

“Older. Definitely older than you are, since you’re practically a baby, but I’m far from old.” Byul bumped her shoulder to the young woman that sat beside her, relieved when she saw the slight upturn on Wheein’s lips.

Wheein drew her legs toward her chest and leaned on it – looking vulnerable and lost – it shocked Byul to see her looked so young, until she had to remind herself that Wheein is young. She was used to deal with the mature side of Wheein that sometimes she forgotten just how young she was.

“She proposed to me on my birthday when I turned 18, and this will sound so cliche, but it was the happiest moment of my life, a dream come true.” Wheein brushed her hand over her face impatiently, ‘Ugh... What is wrong with me, I’m pretty sure there’s a leak in my tear duct.”

Byul reached out, her fingers brushing softly across the smooth expanse of Wheein’s forehead, tucking a stray hair under Wheein’s ear before her fingers traced Wheein’s jaw line ghostly, “What happened?”

Wheein sniffed, “She still hasn’t come out to her family, no one knew about our relationship, not our friends, not our neighbor, we lived together but they just thought that we were roommates. I refused to keep it a secret from my parents though, and she was so scared when she found out that my parents knew, I had to sworn them to secrecy.”

Wheein played with Byul hands, intertwining their fingers on and off, needing something to distract her from the memory overload, “My father and hers were practically brothers, so it bothered her that I told him. No matter how many times I told her that it was alright, beside how can she expected us to get married if she still won’t tell her family that she was gay? It would be inevitable.”

“It was hard, to be introduce as simply a close friend whenever we bumped into one of her friends. It was a nightmare when she went on dates with guys just to keep up with appearance. But I held it in, I endured it.” Wheein chuckled bitterly, “We would end up fighting and she would beg me for forgiveness every single time, but I was naive and so in love.... Oh God, I was so in love with her, it was ridiculous. So I would forgive her time and time again.”

Wheein looked up and Byul could see the pain and sorrow reflected in her dark orbs, Wheein drew a shaky intake of breath, “She promised me that she would came out when it became legal in the US for us to get married. I believed her. I was so stupid.....”

She shook her head forlornly, “Then it happened. The Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was legal nationwide, you have no idea how happy I was. I was elated, I thought, this is it, we finally free to just be ourselves, to announce to the world that we were a couple. She promised.... She promised....” tears leaked out from Wheein’s face and she crumbled, sob wracking her lithe body and Byul heart shattered into jagged pieces.

Byul pulled Wheein into her arms and held her as fiercely as she could, rocking the precious bundle in her arms as Wheein cried her heart out, holding onto Byul as if Byul was her life line, an anchor in the sea of emotion that threatened to swallowed her whole, drowning her alive.

They stayed there in each other arms for what feels like hours, but Byul kept her arms around Wheein, murmuring sweet nothing into her ears until the younger woman tears dried and the sob turned into an occasional ragged breath.

“My happy ending never came...” still cushion on Byul’s chest, Wheein whispered softly, barely audible. She straightened up and detangled herself from Byul’s embrace, reaching for her wine glass, she gulped it down in seconds. Wiping her lips with the back of her hand, she poured another generous amount of wine into her glass and stared at it.

“I skipped my class that day, I bought her favorite food, her favorite chocolate dessert, her favorite flowers, her favorite scented candles, it was a special day for me. It was a celebration!” she smiled a sad smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“When she got home from work, she had this stunned look on her face, like she couldn’t believe that it happened, that it was legal for us to get married. You know what she told me? That she couldn’t do it. She didn’t want to disappoint her father, that she was afraid of his reaction, that her mother would have a heart attack, that her brother would hate her. She told me that she was sorry over and over again, but she still need more time. More time before she could tell her family that she was gay and that she was in a relationship with me.”

“I was furious...” Wheein rubbed her temple, trying to drive the headache away, “I knocked over the vase, the plate, well... except for the candles, I honestly didn’t want to burn down the apartment. It was a wreck, we were shouting and screaming at each other, but I was beyond care. She broke her promise and I didn’t know whether I could ever trust her again.”

“You know what nearly killed me that night? She told me that she has this brilliant idea of getting married to a guy.” Wheein laughed a harsh laugh, but the pain shone even more brightly from her eyes, a left over fury from the distant past. “She would marry a guy to thrown off her family suspicion, so they would never ask why she didn’t settle down and get married, but she would live with me, that we would be together.”

“It was the last straw, I refused to be someone else’s dirty little secret. She killed whatever respect that I had left for her, how could she even think that I would agree to be her mistress? Our love was a beautiful thing and she viewed it as something so foul that she need to hide it away. I was done. Done with all of her promise, just done.... I couldn’t do it anymore. So I left. I broke things off and moved out.”

Byul was silent the entire time, but she was furious on behalf of Wheein. She never hid her sexual identity to anyone, no matter the consequences. She knew that it was hard for some people and she respected their decision, but not if it meant hurting someone else in the process. That’s just plain selfish. 

“I was depressed... badly. Growing up I thought I already found the one that I would spend the rest of my life with. She was my universe... my world revolved around her and her only, I honestly didn’t know what to do with my life at that moment. She tried to make amends but I refused, there’s no way I’m going back to that endless circle of uncertainty. A couple months later, I graduated, packed my bags, moved to Korea and never looked back. And then poof! Suddenly she’s here...”

Wheein drained her wine glass and sighed, “Whatever, happy ending was overrated anyway.”

Byul was floored when she heard those words left Wheein’s lips. She used to throw that exact sentence to Hyejin and Yongsun whenever they lectured her about her habit of jumping in and out of bed with whichever women available. She didn’t believe that she was meant for a relationship, happy ending was just not something that she needs to achieve, she didn’t deserve to be happy anyway, it’s a punishment for her role in what happened to Yongsun.

But Wheein was different, she deserved a happy ending and so much more than that, and it pained her to hear the resignation in her voice.

Wheein scooted closer and touched the side of Byul’s face softly, “This is why what we have right now is perfect.”

Byul wanted to avert her eyes, but Wheein gaze held hers and she couldn’t seem to look away, “Wheein... I....”

A lone finger touched her lips and silenced her, Wheein’s lips ghosted over her jaw, brushing lightly over the smooth skin of her cheek and moved to her ear, brushing against the shell and Byul shuddered. Her heart was beating wildly due to Wheein’s proximity and the pained realization that she was no better than the other woman. She can’t give Wheein the happy ending that she deserved.

Nimble fingers work on the buttons of her shirt and Byul was rooted to her spot, unable to stop the slow web of seduction that Wheein casted over her. Wheein’s fingers glided slowly over the newly exposed skin of her chest, down to her cleavage and settled on her flat abdomen.

Byul saw the raw emotion and the more familiar hint of lust swirling in Wheein’s eyes and gulped the lump that suddenly formed in her throat with force.

“I mean it Byul, what we have right now is perfect...” her fingers went into the waist band of Byul’s suit pants and undo the button there with familiar ease. She slid the zipper down slowly as she held Byul’s eyes and slipped her hands inside of Byul’s panties, her fingers finding Byul’s heat without any difficulties.

Her breath was ragged and her eyes turned darker as lust took control and she moved her fingers inside of Byul maddeningly slowly, “god baby, you’re so wet....” she bit her lips, her gaze never leaving Byul, “Promise me that you would never promise anything that you couldn’t keep....” her fingers moved slightly faster, but still slow enough that Byul could feel every sliding motion of Wheein’s fingers.

Byul fought hard to keep her eyes open - half of her brain was already short circuited with every movement of Wheein’s fingers, driving her slowly insane – but she maintained their eyes contact and nodded, it was a promise that she could keep. She never makes any promises anyway. She wanted to move her hips and chase the pleasure to its final conclusion, but this Wheein’s time, she was in control and she knew that Wheein needed to be in control at the moment, so she held on, her breath coming in and out unevenly as Wheein continued her exploration.

“Promise me that we will always be like this....” she tugged Byul’s ear lobe with her teeth, sucking softly as her fingers moved faster and Byul moaned, eyes fluttering shut, her brain was too clouded with lust to think straight and she didn’t know how to respond to that question.

“Byul... look at me...”

They eyes locked and Byul gasped when Wheein slipped three fingers inside of her in a sudden move, her thumb brushing ever so gently over her bundle of nerves, “Promise me... no string attached.”

“What...?”

Byul was not sure whether her lust induced brain just playing a trick on her or she was too far gone with the feel of Wheein’s thumb rubbing against her clit until she misheard.

Wheein’s smile was sad, “I can’t do relationship anymore...” she let her fingers slide in and out faster and harder until Byul’s breath hitched, “I don’t want to feel that kind of pain anymore.... so please...” she curled her fingers inside and Byul nearly saw star, “no string attached, Byul... let’s stay like this... Friends with benefit....”

Wheein’s thumb flicked faster against her clit and she covered Byul’s lips in a devouring kiss, swallowing Byul’s gasp as her orgasm seized her by surprise.

Byul put her hand onto Wheein’s nape and pulled her closer to deepen their kiss, the pressure on her heart intensified and her sub-conscious rebelled, refusing to accept Wheein’s statement. She slipped her hands beneath Wheein’s thigh and lifted her up, carrying Wheein in her arms into the bedroom.

They eyes remained locked as she gently placed Wheein on the bed and laid beside her, and as she caressed Wheein’s face softly, the jumbled mess inside of her brain realigned itself and became a linear stream of consciousness. Yes, Wheein was meant to be cherish, to be treasure and to be love… and if only she was not such a sinner, someone that was not deserving of happiness, she wishes it was her that could give Wheein the happy ending that she deserved.   


	14. Chapter 14

It was a series of unusual circumstances, even from the moment she woke up.

Instead of being woken up by her alarm, she was slowly roused from sleep by soft kisses on her neck and the maddeningly slow circular motion that Byul made on her stomach. Now, it was not unusual for them to make love in the morning before going to work, what was unusual was the fact that instead of deepening their kiss, Byul walked out from the bedroom and came back a couple of minutes later with a breakfast tray on her hands.

Yes, she started her day with breakfast in bed, a small surprise from Byul who joined her back on the bed and literally fed her the delicious chicken porridge that Byul made herself, a family recipe and basically the only thing that Byul knew how to make perfectly.

But the most unusual things happened when they already reached the office. Instead of escorting her with a hand on the small of her back as per usual, Byul intertwined their fingers together and walked her to the junior lawyer’s area and then.... there was the kiss.

As they reached Wheein’s desk, Byul leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

Not just a simple peck, it was an honest to god – toe curling, body melting, panties ruining – kind of kiss that left Wheein breathless and dazed, completely oblivious to the gasps and shell shock stares of her co-workers and the immediate buzz that surrounded the area. She wasn’t even sure she remembered her name after that kiss, but Byul simply smirked at her and winked, wishing her a good day as she walked down to her own office.

Still completely under the spell of the kiss, Wheein wandered over to Hyejin’s office, ignoring the open mouthed gape of Taehyung and Seulgi and well... basically everyone else that saw the mind blowing kiss, * _What just happened?_ *

 

 

“You did not just kiss Jung Wheein in front of everyone.”

Byul looked up from her contract and saw Seulgi standing in front of her desk with a shock expression on her face. Turning her attention back toward her work, she circled a typo on the contract with the red pen, answering Seulgi’s exclamation in a nonchalant tone, “I did.”

Seulgi groaned out loud, “It was rhetorical! Besides, I saw it with my own two eyes and so did the other members of your fan club. Ugh... 25% of your fans already switched allegiance to the new partner, and now, thanks to your public display of affection, some of your fans probably will jump ship. But then again... from the look on Wheein’s face, that kiss was amazing, so they probably stick around. Seriously though, you have a tough rival here! I mean, you might be the epitome of cool, but the new partner is like your complete opposite, she HOT! Like molten lava hot. Some of the women here already said that one look from her and their clothes melted off on the spot!”

“Is there a point in this conversation?” Byul looked up from her work, irritated. “Besides, I thought I already warned all of you about the whole fan club thing, and what’s it got to do with you?”

“Uh....”

“Kang Seulgi....” Byul raised one of her eyebrow, her tone a warning threat and the younger woman looked down on the floor, properly chastised.

“I might be the one that supply them with pictures of you for side income.” She mumbled her words fast, but Byul still heard it perfectly.

The platinum haired lawyer threw her pen onto the table and raised both of her hands in disbelief, “of all the stupid things....”

“That’s not the point, I mean... I’m just looking out for you and stuff.” Seulgi quickly defended herself, but one look on Byul stormy face, she shut her mouth and turned around toward the door, “I better get back to work.”

“That would be the wise thing to do.”

Seulgi cringed and almost bolted out from the room, leaving Byul to stare at the closed door in a sour mood, “Un-freaking-believable.”

She turned her attention back to the contract in front of her, but her brain seemed to fail her, the words no more than a jumbled mess. Seulgi’s words about Yuri being her rival kept replaying on the back of her mind. * _Is it? Is she really a rival?_ * Byul tapped her pen rapidly against the papers, still couldn’t come up with the reason why the thought bothered her so much. 

 

 

Wheein entered Hyejin’s office without knocking and only when Hyejin threw her arms around her in a crushing hug that she returned back to reality, “Byul just kissed me in front of everyone.” She blurted out and Hyejin let go of her embrace, one eyebrow already raising with interest.

“Did she now?”

Wheein nodded dumbly, “Yes.” Her body still tingled after that kiss and she was forced to slap her own face just to come back to her senses.

“Huh... interesting....”

“Why would she do that?” Wheein walked over to the couch and sat down gingerly, her legs still a little bit wobbly, * _damn Byul and her ability to kiss!_ *

“Are you seriously asking me that? This is Byul we’re talking about, that woman has plan AA for her plan Z. Can’t you see? She’s setting a tone.”

“Huh?” Wheein blinked and tapped her own head a couple of times, willing her brain to work properly again.

“The kiss is _THAT_ good?” Hyejin smirked teasingly and laughed when Wheein simply nodded stupidly. She sauntered over to the couch and sat down, angling her body so she could look at Wheein better, “Oh honey... you’re so whipped. Anyway, remember that we have a new partner? The one that you said is your ex-fiancé?”

Hyejin almost felt guilty when she saw just how quickly the dreamy look on Wheein’s face turned somber, “Well, judging by your reaction, it was not an amicable split. Now, Byul is also a partner, by kissing you, she’s giving a clear message that you are off limit. So, if this ex-fiancé of yours is smart, she won’t bother you, at least in the office.”

“So she’s staking her claim by kissing me? In front of everybody? What is this? High school?”

“Well, she can’t exactly pee around you, now can she? So kissing you is the best way to do it, beside, you enjoyed it.”

“Pee around... I’m not a dog!”

“You’re a puppy, same thing.” Hyejin waved her hand dismissingly and looked pointedly at Wheein.

“Look, Kwon Yuri is new to the firm, she would need to give a good first impression to the others. especially to the senior lawyers. Now, if she bothers you, then she would step on Byul’s toes, not to mention giving off the impression that her only interest is to chase a woman, not on this firm. What would the others think? She is her father’s successor, yes, BUT, she will need to earn the respect.”

Wheein released a heavy sigh and nodded absently, her head suddenly pounding, the reality of the situation that she would need to learn to co-exist with Yuri felt more real as the time went by.

“Hey...” Hyejin put a hand on her arms and gave her one of her rare warm smile, “I could transfer you back to Byul if you wanted to, no need to stress yourself up.”

“You would do that?”

Hyejin winced slightly, “I hate the idea of losing you, you’re the best partner in crime I ever had, but... if you are really uncomfortable working with her, I would rather transfer you to Byul right this instance.”

Wheein threw herself into Hyejin and wrapped her arms around Hyejin’s neck, holding her tight despite the immediate protest by the older woman, “I love you.”

“I. Cant. Breath.” Hyejin wheezed and tapped Wheein’s arms urgently until the lithe woman giggled and released her.

Wheein beamed a dimpled smile at Hyejin, “Thank you for the offer, it means a lot to me. But I’ll be alright, I can do this.”

“Yeah well... I love you too. Okay then, let’s get some work done. Too many dramas in this office, this is a law firm, not a K-Drama.” She scrunched up her face in distaste and walked back to her desk, “Wheepup, can you do a follow up on the PR case, please?”

“On it.” Wheein jumped from her seat, * _Yes... She’ll be just fine_ *

 

***

 

“Wheein, could you come to my office, please?” Yuri stood in front of the junior lawyer’s area, looking like a million bucks with her perfectly waved hair and her skin tight black pencil dress, showing off her perfect curves for all eyes to feast.

“I’m doing a follow up on the PR case.” Wheein stayed on her chair, barely looking up from her laptop.

“I’m sure it can wait, or your colleague could do it for you. Come to think about it, it’s probably wise if you show me around and introduce me to the rest of the team.” Yuri smiled ruefully and Wheein swore that she heard someone swoon in the background.

Wheein fought the urge to sigh and roll her eyes – smiling up at the woman instead – to Yuri’s delight, “We have 15 junior associates, 10 middle associates and 4 senior associates in the criminal department. I’m sure someone could show you around, I need to do my work, if you don’t mind.” She smiled extra sweet, dimple and all and then promptly ignored the older woman.

“I could show you around, Miss Kwon, I mean... If that’s alright with you.” Hee Yeon raised her hand and gave Yuri a big smile and Wheein nearly sigh in relief.  

Knowing that she couldn’t possibly rejected the offer without coming off as rude, Yuri gave the starry eyed Hee Yeon a smile and nodded, laughing a little when she saw the young woman squealed slightly before quickly calmed herself again.

She looked longingly at Wheein for ten increasingly rapid heartbeats and cleared her throat, “Meet me in the office after lunch then, I have some work for you.” She waited until she received a small nod of acknowledgment from Wheein before turning her attention toward the excited junior associate and smiled brightly, showing off her pearly whites, “So... where should we start the tour?”

 

 

“Are you going to keep on staring at me the whole time?” Wheein said through gritted teeth and gripped her pen harder.

Yuri had been staring at her for a good 30 minutes since she entered the room. Yuri called Wheein again after lunch to come to her office under the pretense of work. She adamantly asked Wheein to brief her on the current work load of the criminal department, although the younger woman already exasperatingly told her that she only share some of Hyejin’s work load and she had no idea about the work load of the other senior associates.

“I’m concentrating.” Yuri smiled lazily at her – twirling her pen – her notebook left open but no notes were written on it.

“Yes. On my face. While you should be concentrating on the files in front of you. Did you even listening to any words I said?” Wheein’s dark eyes glinted with challenge and Yuri simply nodded, resting her face on her hand, she stared deeply into Wheein’s eyes until Wheein averted her gaze and sighed.

“Shall we continue then?”

“Please do.”

Irritation crept on Wheein’s face and she was so close to just snap her notebook shut and walked out, “How long are you going to keep me here and prevent me from doing my _actual_ work?”

“But you are working, baby. You have to brief me on the cases that we are currently handling.”

“Stop calling me that! and the senior lawyers can brief you better than I do.”

“But they’re not you and I want you....” she let the words lingered and Wheein really wanted to punch her in her perfect face, “.... to be the one that brief me. So... the PR case, see, I’m listening, please continue.”

She pointed at the opened case folder in front of Yuri, “The summary is there in front of you, which you could read by yourself and...” Yuri glanced at the folder briefly and turned her attention back to Wheein.

“Maybe you should sit closer and explain it to me one step at the time, just to make sure that I won’t get it wrong.”

Wheein narrowed her eyes suspiciously and Yuri chuckled lightly, “I won’t bite, cross my heart.”

Hesitating for a brief moment, Wheein was about to scoot her chair closer when she heard Yuri’s next words, “Although I recall that you love it when I bit you.”

Pushing herself off the chair, Wheein angrily slammed her notebook shut, “Okay, that’s it! I tried to be professional with you, but if you can’t give me the same courtesy? Tough luck, just asked the other senior lawyers to brief you, I’m out of here.”

“Wait... Wait....” Yuri grabbed Wheein’s arm gently and looked at her pleadingly, “I’m sorry... forgive me? It’s just that I finally see you again after so long and with our past, it’s kind of hard for me to adjust to this new.... situation between us, the memory is too strong. Don’t you remember that we used to study together like this and ended up making out instead of studying?”

Wheein looked at the hand that lingered on her arm – hating the tingling feeling that crept at her from the point of contact – and glared at the taller woman, “Like you said, it was in the past. Why dwell in it? Hands off and stop mentioning the past, it wouldn’t do any good.”

Yuri winced and let go of her grip, “You really don’t have any feelings left for me? Nothing? At all?”

Wheein ignored the question and looked at the opened case folder, “Do you want me to continue briefing you on the case? If you prefer talking about your feelings or our past relationship, then I would prefer to get the hell out of here and work. Your choice, Partner Kwon.” She ended her words coldly, angling her head to look straight into Yuri’s eyes until the older woman admitted defeat and nodded her head slowly.

“Okay... brief me, please.” She gestured toward the seat and Wheein grudgingly sat back down, opening her note book again with more force than necessary and pointed at the summary, “Read. You could ask questions if you don’t understand.”  

 

***

 

Wheein took a deep breath and hold still as she braved the shower of ice cold water that jolted her out of her current dark mood. A sadistic trick that had already proven true numerous times able to douse the burning anger on the pit of her stomach. She turned on the warm water and stood there, letting the warmth spread all over her body.

Although true to her words that she would refrain from talking about anything else besides work, Yuri kept her inside until way past office hours, and spending her day with Yuri in an enclosed space for a copious amount of time was enough to rattle Wheein. She almost felt sorry to Byul when she just burst into the blond woman’s office and dragged her out without any preamble, wanting to get home as soon as possible.

She slipped on the long sleeves huge shirt and untied her long dark hair, running her fingers through the strand to untangle it before opening the bathroom door, her eyes softening when she saw Byul already lounging comfortably on the bed - the down comforter covered her legs and pillow nestled against the headboard to support her back - looking serious while reading a book.

Slipping into the comforter, she grabbed the TV remote and channel surf for a while before settling on a foreign movie. Snuggling closer to Byul, she peeked at the novel Byul was holding, “What are you reading?”

“Hmmm...” Byul instinctively moved her arm to hold Wheein closer to her body, her fingers immediately playing with Wheein’s hair, “Lincoln Lawyer.” She answered without taking her eyes off the page of the book.

“Cool. I like Michael Connelly.” Wheein pillowed her head on Byul’s shoulder and sighed contently – eyes glued back to the TV screen – she turned the volume down just a tiny little bit, so it won’t distract Byul from her reading.

They fell into a comfortable silence with Byul sometimes looking up and watched part of the movie, whilst Wheein sometimes turned her attention toward the book, reading whatever page Byul was on.

Byul looked down and smiled when she saw Wheein turned the page of her book when she was distracted by the movie, “Good?” Wheein nodded, eyes still glued to the written words, her head now comfortably resting on Byul’s chest for better reading angle.

“Interesting movie choice, _the King Speech_ , but I guess the book is more interesting to you.”

Wheein looked up slightly and grinned, “I watched it like a gazillion times already, but I still like listening to them talk as background noise, British accent and all.”

“Why do you like it so much?” Byul stroke Wheein’s hair softly, enjoying the feel of her silken hair between her fingertips, she watched as the younger woman turned slightly pensive, a crease emerging between her brows and Byul can’t help but to lean down and kissed it away.

“I just love the love story between the King and the Queen. Mind you, this is not an over the top love story with grandiose gestures from the lead characters, and I know the story revolves around overcoming your fear and challenges. BUT... you’ve got to admit, the love between them was beautiful, they supported each other, they believed in each other, they relied on each other and for me, that’s...”

“True love.”

Wheein looked up to Byul when the older woman finished her sentence for her and smiled softly, eyes crinkling with affection, “Yes...” she whispered, hand reaching out to touch Byul’s face softly before she surged up and captured Byul’s lips in a lingering kiss.

They stayed like that for a while, lost in the sensation of lips moving against lips, tongues stroking lazily against each other, luxuriating in the feel of being in each other arms. Wheein hummed when they finally broke the kiss, eyes fluttering open to found the older woman smiling down on her, “What?”

“You are a romantic.”

“No, I’m not.”  Wheein yawned and snuggled up closer to Byul, who pressed another kiss on the top of Wheein’s head.

“Tired?” Wheein nodded slowly, eyes already closing, using Byul’s chest as her pillow.

Chuckling softly, Byul settled herself down on her back and reached out to turn off the light when Wheein stopped her, “Wait, do you want to... uhm...”

Biting back her laugh at the blushing younger woman, Byul quickly pressed the main power switch, leaving them surrounded by darkness and the sudden quietness of the room.   

She drew Wheein into her arms and kissed Wheein’s forehead softly, “Sleep.” She commanded the younger woman and closed her eyes – ready to drift off to dreamland – when she heard Wheein’s soft voice whispered her name.

“Byul?”

“Hmmmm?”

Silent fell and Byul swore she could almost hear Wheein’s heartbeat beating in tandem with hers.

“Nothing....” she felt the pressed of Wheein’s lips against her throat and the tightening of Wheein’s arm around her torso and sighed contently, letting the quiet lulled them both to sleep.

 

***

 

“Oh you have got to be kidding me.” The three women stopped short on the hallway when they saw the junior lawyer’s area was nearly covered with vases of variety of flowers. “This is a law firm! Not a flower shop!” Hyejin continued her rant and looked at the mortified look on Wheein’s face.

“I don’t think I have a table anymore, I mean, all I could see are flowers. Flowers everywhere. Do you think it’s from...” Wheein gulped, unable to finish her train of thought.  

Byul frowned at the sight in front of her, that weird feeling that kept on nagging at her on the back of her mind came back in full force. She scratched her eyebrow in frustration, * _that woman has balls_ *

 “Tae!” she hollered to the young man, who nearly jumped when he heard his name being called. He turned around and briskly walked toward the three of them.

“Yes, Miss Moon?”

“What’s all that?” she gestured toward the working area that now practically looked like a garden.

“Uh... it’s for Wheein... uhm... the flower shop people waited in front of the door until the security let them in, they said it was a surprise from her girlfriend and ....” Byul raised her hand to stop the stammering young man.  

“Can you get whoever available to move all of these vases? Maybe put one vase each on every woman’s desk in the office, except the three of us of course, and maybe send them out to other neighbor offices as well if there’s still some left?”

“Oh, and tell them that it was from Kwon Yuri.” Added Hyejin with a wink.

“If there’s any card on them? Shredded it. Oh, give two vases to Hee Yeon, she’ll love it.” Wheein supplied even more request and Taehyung could only nod obediently.

“Thanks, Tae.” The three women choruses and Taehyung almost saluted them on instinct, but refrained himself on the last second, “On it!”

Wheein sighed heavily and hung her head, “This is a nightmare.”

Hyejin rolled her eyes and sipped her take away coffee, “Hangin’ there, kiddo. Ugh… I think I just caught an allergy for flowers. By the way, your dad would love some decoration in his office right? Maybe around 20 or 30 vases of flower?” She nodded to herself, already forming a plan on how to decorate the managing partner’s office and quickly walked over to Taehyung to give him further instruction.

Byul tapped Wheein’s head softly, “You okay? Want to hang out in my office first?”

“Only if I get to hug and cuddle with you.”

Byul laughed at the pout forming on Wheein’s face and shook her head, “In that case, you better get to work, I don’t think I have enough self-control to just hug and cuddle you.”

“Well, who’s going to stop you? Definitely not me.” Wheein grinned and yelped when someone slapped her on the butt. Hard.

“Me. I’m going to be the one that stop you. You two need to stop doing the dirty in the office, I can’t even sit in Byul’s couch now!” Hyejin shuddered and slapped Wheein’s butt again, although with less force this time.

“Go do your job, puppy. And you…” she pointed a well manicure finger to Byul – who had a ‘ _what_?’ look on her face – “Hands off during office hour, Casanova, or I’ll cut it off for you, now shoo! Both of you! Work!” Hyejin pulled on Byul’s arm and dragged her down the hallway, leaving a giggling Wheein behind.

 

 

Undeterred by the failed flower tactic – which gained Yuri more female fan, just not the one intended – next came the chocolate and candies, much to Hyejin’s delights and Byul’s chagrin, then on the next day Wheein found hand written little love notes throughout the day which popped up on her desk, on her books, in her bag, on her laptop, which all ended up at the bottom of Wheein’s trash can.

Wheein cracked her neck with a satisfying pop and groaned, she drained the ice cold water from the bottle on her hand and sighed, thankful that it was already the end of the week. Yuri kept her hostage inside of her office for the last three days and it really starting to grate on her nerves.

It was past office hour now, and here she was hiding in the pantry just to get away from the woman for a while. She honestly couldn’t wait to get home and cuddle with Byul. It was practically the only highlight of her days lately.

She frowned when she remembered that she still need to endure the woman’s presence on the gala dinner tomorrow and wonder whether she could just skip it altogether. Lost in her own thought, she gasped when hands encircled her waist and pulled her close. “Wha....”

“Are you hiding from me?”

Wheein shivered when she heard Yuri’s voice so close to her, whirling around she found herself face to face with the owner of the voice.

Her face was too close for comfort and Wheein tensed, trapped by Yuri’s arms on each side of her body, “Back off.” She said through gritted teeth.

“You haven’t answer the question. I’ve been waiting for you for almost 30 minutes.”

Wheein fights off her instinct to squirm under Yuri’s heated gaze and repeated her words, “I said, back off.”

Yet, Yuri stood her ground. Her dark eyes bore into Wheein’s, the tension grew thick around them and Wheein finally had enough. She put one of her hand on Yuri’s chest and gave it a shove, still the older woman didn’t even budge.

Wheein looked up and glared at the taller woman, “Seriously, Yuri, move!” Wheein tried to push her away again,

Yuri ignored it. She tried being patience, moving slowly and tried to be romantic, but it didn’t work. What she hasn’t try to capitulate was their fiery passion for each other, so maybe… just maybe… “Do you really feel nothing....” she ran her fingers on Wheein’s neck, raising goosebumps on its wake, and leaned down aiming on Wheein’s lips.

 

 

“There you are, I’ve been looking all over the place for....” Byul stopped on her track when she found Wheein in Yuri’s arms.

Yuri stopped when she heard Byul’s voice, her lips barely an inch away from her intended target. She felt the tremble in Wheein’s body and smiled, maybe Wheein was not as immune to her charm as she would like to believe. She straightened up and turned, looking at Byul and smiling apologetically and shrugged as if telling Byul that shit happened and there’s nothing that she can do about it.

“Byul....” Wheein was trembling, she wanted to run toward the older woman and threw her arms around her, but somehow her feet turned to lead. Heavy and unmovable. Or maybe it was the look on Byul’s face that rooted her to the spot. Or it was Yuri’s hand on her waist that stopped her. She wasn’t even sure anymore.

The sound of Byul’s phone ringing broke the silence that seemed to hold them captive and without glancing at the caller ID, she answered, “Hey babe...” she broke her eye contact with Wheein then, presenting her back to the other two as she talked to Yongsun.

Wheein’s heart clenched tightly at the view of Byul’s silent back, clouded by too many conflicting emotion swirling inside of her.

“Father throw us a dinner, my whole family will be there and your parents as well, that’s why I looked for you here, so we could go there together.” Yuri spoke a little bit too loud for Wheein’s liking, but she ignored her entirely, too focus on willing Byul to turn around and look at her again.

“Okay, no... no... it’s okay, of course I will always have time for you, babe. Okay, I’ll see you soon.” Byul turned and looked at them again, her voice was calm, too calm when she addressed the other two women, “That’s Yongsun.” She said, as if it explained everything. Yuri raised her eyebrow in confusion, but Wheein understood completely.

“Go then....” she stared at Byul, willing the other woman to look at her in the eyes and asked her to go with her, but Byul already looked pre-occupied and eager to leave the place. The older woman simply nodded and left in an instant. Wheein bit her lower lip, her head down, letting her hair to cascade down to veil her disappointment.

“Wheein….”

Wheein looked up, her heart lifted when she heard Byul’s voice again, “You should go with Yuri, have a nice dinner your parents, talk to your dad. Patch things up.” Byul gave her a small smile then left again and somehow, Wheein felt like her heart been stabbed with a well sharpened knife.

Yuri saw the disappointment on Wheein’s face and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, “She has another girlfriend?” Wheein shook her head, just a barest shake of her head, Yongsun was not Byul’s girlfriend, she was more than that, she was Byul’s other half.

Wheein closed her eyes, locking the turmoil inside of her away, “Let’s go to dinner.” Her voice sounded distant, but she knew that Yuri heard her just fine, the warm hand that engulfed hers and escorted her away was the proof of it. She was moving on autopilot, her body was moving, but she was lost inside of herself, curling up in a fetal position, shutting the world away.

 

***

 

“What is this place?” Byul was fascinated when her voice echoed back, eyes roamed all over the place as she walked toward the roaring fire in the middle of the room.

“Indoor camping!” Yongsun brightly answered, face beaming with a huge smile, “I thought it would be nice to have a get together with the other social workers. Bonding time and all, so this is one of the places that I’m trying out. What do you think?”

It was the size of a futsal field, designed to look outdoorsy, equipped with camping tools and even a small pit to have bonfire, “Creative.” Was Byul’s only response before she sat in the middle of the camp fire, accepting a bottle of beer from Hyejin, who already busy roasting marshmallow.

“I can’t believe you rushed me over here just to have an indoor camping.” Byul shook her head and took a swig of her beer.

“Psshh, of course not. This is an intervention.” Hyejin calmly blew over her marshmallow before biting into it gently and moaned, “This is soooo good.”

“Intervention for what?”

“Your idiocy, your denseness, your stupidity, take a pick.” Hyejin finished off her marshmallow and gave Byul a saccharine sweet smile.

Sensing that Byul was about to snap, Yongsun quickly put a calming hand on her arm, “Don’t listen to her.” Carefully trying to find the right word to broach the subject, Yongsun busied herself with the marshmallow, putting the fluffy candy into a stick for roasting to buy her some time.

“So… uhm… I heard that Wheein’s ex is in the picture right now.” She took a tiny glanced at Byul and noted the slight tick on her facial features, anyone wouldn’t be able to pick up on it, but she knew Byul so well, she knew that she just hit a nerve. 

“So?” Byul took another swig of her beer – avoiding all eyes contact – the mentioned of Wheein’s ex felt like a sledge hammer to her conscious. She’d been trying to put the image of Wheein in Yuri’s arms in a small compartment of her brain and put it away, but her mind kept on playing tricks on her, replaying the scene in the pantry over and over like a broken record, and now it was on the fore front of her mind.

“So what are you going to do about it?” Yongsun carefully asked, painfully aware with the change in Byul’s mood.

“Nothing. Why should I?”

“See! Just let me hit her, please, just this once, Yongsun-nie, maybe if I hit her, she won’t be this stupid.” Hyejin sighed exasperatingly, poking the fire with more force than necessary for emphasis.

Yongsun grimaced and sighed heavily, “Babe… I know that you and Wheein are not exactly… together… in a sense that….”

Hyejin snorted, “Unnie, please, those two are practically in a relationship already. Anyone with eyes can see it, all lovey dovey and clingy even in public, I got toothache just watching them being sweet to each other.”

“We’re not together, it’s clear, none of us wants a relationship. We’re just having fun, that’s all.”

“Oh you have got to be kidding me…”

Yongsun raised both of her arms, “If you two could just act like an adult for a second, seriously, act your age! Byul, honestly, if her ex somehow wedge her way into Wheein’s life, you will do nothing? You will just let her do everything in her power to swept Wheein off her feet and took her away from you? And that’s it? You will just let it happen? You will be fine with it?”

“Maybe it’s for the best.” Byul mumbled against her beer bottle and Hyejin growled, her eyes flashing dangerously.

“Forget about hitting, I seriously contemplating of killing you.”

Byul smirked, challenge shown from her eyes, daring Hyejin to make good on her threat, “Be my guest.”

Hyejin might be clouded by her protectiveness toward Wheein, but Yongsun was too in tune with Byul not to notice the underlying storm brewing in Byul’s dark eyes.

“You love her…” she whispered softly and noted the rigidness of Byul’s body when the words were spoken.

“What are you talking about?” Byul quickly deflecting.

Yongsun took a deep breath, reaching out to take Byul’s unoccupied hand and clapped it gently between hers, “Byul-ah… look at me.”

Byul kept her eyes on the blazing fire, ignoring the stares from the two of them, “You stopped sleeping around Byul, she was the only one… even before the two of you started whatever it is you two are doing. Ever since she was in your life, you just… stopped. That was nearly a year ago, and it never happened before. Never.” Yongsun felt the hand that she held twitched, so she pressed on.

“There was never a woman that you slept with more than once, and you never take any of them to your place. Now… tell me, when was the last time Wheein sleep in her own place? Will you dispute me if I said that the two of you are practically living together right now?” the hand jerked, but Yongsun held on tightly, still looking at Byul’s side profile and the tightness of her jaw.

“And babe? You stopped calling me every night….” At the last whispered words, Byul whirled around and looked at Yongsun with such anguish that broke her heart, the naked emotion that she found on Byul’s eyes was enough to confirm her gut feeling, “You stopped having nightmare didn’t you?”

Yongsun smiled, she looked down at the hand that always bring her such strength and stroke it softly, “She chased the nightmare away for you, didn’t she?” She looked up again, smiling brightly at Byul, the light from the fire illuminating the glassiness of her eyes, “Good…. That’s good.”

“Babe….” Byul put down her beer bottle and grabbed a hold on both of Yongsun’s hands, “I’m sorry….”

Hyejin realized the shift in the tension and knew that the two of them need some time alone, there’s something that the two of them need to resolve and they didn’t need another pair of eyes to witness it. She stood up slowly and left, although she knew that the two of them was already in a world of their own to notice.

“Why sorry? Byul…. Of all the people in the world, aside from my parents of course, I wish for your happiness the most. You finally found the person that sooth that demon inside of you, here…” Yongsun put her hand directly on the beating of Byul’s heart, “she heals you here, where you needed it the most. She makes you happy, Byul…”  

Byul covered Yongsun’s hand with her own and shook her head, “I don’t deserve it, I don’t deserve her…”

“What? Why? Byul… no one deserves happiness more than you!”

“How can you say that!? After what I did to you….” Byul stood up quickly, walking a few steps away from Yongsun, maybe the heat from the fire was getting to her, but she felt so deprive of oxygen, she could hardly breathe.  

She jerked when Yongsun’s cold hand cupped her face, “Byul… it was not your fault, it was never your fault, what happened and the results of it, it was all in his hands, never yours. I never blame you for everything that happened. Never. How could you blame yourself…”

“How could I not? I let him got away with his crimes, Yongsun, if it wasn’t for me, he would be in jail instead of….”

“Baby…. No… stop… look at me. Byul! Look at me!” Yongsun waited until Byul looked directly into her eyes, both eyes glassy with unshed tears.

“Everything happened for a reason, Byul ah… if it never happened, we probably won’t be this close, I would not have the best friend that I have in you right now. We would still be rival, I admit that I would probably still respect the hell out of you, but we would never be friends. But now? I feel like I have a sister that I could count on. And because of it, I quit my job and actually do good deeds for the people that needed it. Those are the silver linings and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Byul still looked unsure, breaking Yongsun’s heart in the process, just how long has she held it in like this? Carrying the weight of guilt in her shoulder, tying herself to the stupid notion that it was all her fault, “Tell me the truth Byul… If Wheein never walked back in into your life, how would you live your life?”

“Just like it used to be… until I could chase away _your_ nightmare, until I could make you happy and…” Yongsun placed her palm on Byul’s lips, silencing Byul because she just couldn’t hear it anymore.

“Shut up, you, idiot! Oh God… why didn’t you tell me that you feel this way… I would’ve kick your idiot ass a long time ago!” Silence answered her question.

She took a step back and hold both of Byul’s hands in hers, “You want me to be happy right? Then how do you think it made me feel knowing that I’m the reason why you’re withholding yourself your happiness?”

Tears rolled down Byul’s cheeks and Yongsun’s tears soon followed – she cupped the back of Byul’s neck – touching their forehead together, “You listen to me and listen to me carefully, I forgive you. You hear me? I don’t need you to protect me, or to be there for me 24/7, or to freaking chase away my nightmare. I might crash down at times, tumble and cry because of it, but I’m not that weak, I will be fine.”

She pressed a long kiss on Byul’s forehead, “Be happy, Baby… that’s all I want from you….”

Byul tentatively encircled her hands onto Yongsun’s waist and held her tight, hiding her face in Yongsun’s neck, nodding slightly. The guilt was still there, she didn’t think it will ever go away completely, but maybe with Yongsun’s blessing, it was okay for her to be happy.

Byul released her hold on Yongsun’s body after a while, raking her fingers through her hair, musing it slightly, “She told me that she didn’t want a relationship... That she can’t do relationship anymore….”

Yongsun tilted her head, watching the vulnerable expression on Byul’s face. It was fascinating, even under the pressure of a gun on her face, she never once saw Byul this vulnerable.

“What do _you_ want?”

“I want to give her the world. I want to make her happy in whatever capacity that she would allow me. I’m hers … whether she realized it or not, she owns me…”  So open and raw with emotions, this Byul was an anomaly to her, so foreign. This Byul already served her heart in a silver platter, waiting for its owner to claim it, and has no idea what to do.

“Now I understand why Hyejin want to hit so badly. Byul-ah… fight for her, she might be too traumatized by her failed relationship before, but you have to show her that this time it would be different. That happiness is within reach only if you just fight for it. Do you think she worth fighting for?”

“Do you even have to ask? Of course she is!”

Yongsun grinned and patted Byul’s head with affection, “Then what are you waiting for, go and get your girl.”

 

***

 

Hyejin floored the gas pedal, rushing toward Gangnam after she received a call from a distress Wheein. Thankfully she still remembered to text Yongsun, telling her that something came up that she needed to go without saying goodbye and asked Yongsun to message her the outcome with Byul.

Hyejin stopped her car in front of the posh restaurant and rolled down her window, “What the hell are you doing standing in the freaking cold like that? Get the hell in!”

Wheein was shaking with cold when she entered the car and sighed when the heater blasted her with warmth, “Sorry, but I just can’t stay there any longer, beside, you said that you’re only five minutes away.”

“Yes! But five minutes in this freaking weather was enough to give you pneumonia.” Hyejin was about to rant some more when she noticed the look on Wheein’s face, “You okay?”

“No.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Wheein’s chuckled was sad, “They acted like nothing happened. Can you believe it? They all acted like we were still a couple, like the break up never happened, like we were just having a rough patch but will still be together in the end. Her mother freaking asked me to call her ‘ _mom’._ What the fuck!! What the fuck!!!” she kicked the dashboard of Hyejin’s car in her frustration several times and Hyejin let her.

“You done?”

Wheein nodded, her energy drained after her sudden outburst.

“I’m going to bill you the repair for that, for such a tiny girl, you sure packed a mean kick, I think I saw a dent or something.”

Wheein grunted her acknowledgment, she still wants to kick something, anything, but her feet hurt and she really wish that instead of the dashboard, she could kick Yuri or maybe even her own dad for laughing and acting like nothing is freaking wrong with the whole situation, or Byul for telling her to go there in the first place. Byul… why would she do that? why…   

“Wait, where are you going?” Wheein asked when she noticed that Hyejin turned left instead of right.

“Well, if you didn’t notice, I have to take a turn here to take you to Byul’s place.”

“No. Take me to my place. Please.”

Hyejin chanced a glance on Wheein’s direction, “Are you sure?”

Was she sure? No… she wasn’t. She wants to go to Byul’s place, she wanted nothing more than to have Byul’s arms wrapped around her at this very moment. But Byul’s silent back and her words were still so fresh in her memory that she didn’t think she could be anywhere around her without the pained realization that Byul asked her to go, that instead of telling Yuri to back off, she pushed her away….

Wheein curled up in her seat, facing the car door, hiding her expression away “Yes… please… I need to be alone….” She sniffed discreetly, hoping that Hyejin wouldn’t notice the scratchiness of her voice.

 _*Byul…. Byul… Byul…*_  

Like a wish upon a star, maybe if she wishes hard enough, it would come true. That she would wake up with Byul holding her.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end is near!! 2 Chapters left *Sigh* To all of you that read this story, thank you!! Comments are welcome, critics are more than welcome, it will help with the writing. Excuse the typos and the grammar, my grammar sucks and English is not my first language, so... yeah.... well... Thanks again for reading!!!


	15. Chapter 15

Warm.

Wheein felt the warm cocooned her body in a comfortable hold, something soft and warm pressed against her back, and there was a light weight draped across her waist.

Wheein blinked awake.

Heart beating erratically, she focused on her surroundings. Sandy wall, black wood dresser, bathroom door around the corner, yep... she was in her own apartment, but who... she bit her lips and looked down at the familiar hand that held her body, her heart beat increasing by the second until her gaze fell on a sleeping Moon Byul.

Platinum blond hair fanned across the white pillow – still deep in slumber – Wheein can’t help but think how young and innocent Byul looked like this, her heart slammed repeatedly against her chest as a smile formed unbidden on her lips. Her fingers were shaky, slightly trembling as she traced the contour of Byul’s face, almost afraid that it was just a figment of her imagination. That in just one touch, Byul would disperse into nothingness.

Long eyelashes fluttered, sleepy dark eyes slowly opened and Wheein exhaled a breath when she saw the warmth of it greeted her. Byul tightened her hold onto Wheein’s body, hiding her face on the crook of the younger woman’s neck, mumbling softly, “You should just throw your hand phone away.”

“Huh?”

“I called you a million times last night and it went straight to voicemail.” Byul groaned, stretching out the kink from her body and sat up, both hands reaching up to rub the sleep away from her eyes.

Byul remembered the panic that she felt when Wheein was not home even after past midnight, all her messages were unread and she couldn’t get a hold on the younger woman. The demon in her mind whispered the possibility of Wheein staying with Yuri, but the rational part of her reminded her that it was a distant possibility.

Byul was relieved beyond belief when she found Wheein curled up on the bed at her own apartment, although another part of her was disheartened that Wheein didn’t call and didn’t come home to her place.

Dragging her feet to the bathroom, she splashed water on to her face and brushed her teeth with quick efficiency, before walking back to the kitchen area to make coffee. Thankful that she still had enough brain cells to buy some grocery after she was sure that Wheein was safe and sound.

She stood there waiting for the coffee to brew, painfully aware of the stare that Wheein gave her from the bed, the studio apartment allowed her a direct view to the kitchen area near the front door without any partition.

“Something on my face?” Byul playfully asked, scrubbing her face with her hands.

“You’re here.” Wheein was still unsure whether she was dreaming or not, but the smell of coffee that slowly permeated the air assured her that it was real, that Byul was really in her apartment.

“Where else would I be?” Byul threw her a confused look and Wheein was floored by the answer.

Byul grabbed the coffee cup from the coffee machine and took a sip, sighing happily as the caffeine infused her system. “Why didn’t you called me to pick you up?” Byul asked calmly, cocking her head to the side as she watched Wheein bit her lips, as if contemplating her answer.

“You’re with Yongsun unnie, I didn’t want to bother you.” Half truth, Byul could sense there were other reasons, but she let it slide this time.

She nodded, sipping her coffee again, still watching Wheein calmly, “Next time, no matter what, call me. How was dinner?”

Wheein shrugged and Byul knew instantly that the dinner didn’t end well.

“That bad?”

Wheein shrugged again, her jaw tensing with the force of her gritted teeth. Knowing Wheein, she would always spoke her mind if something bothered her, to get a silent answer like this, something must’ve gone really wrong and in that instant, Byul knew exactly what she had to do and made a decision. 

“You know what? I think we both need some vacation, I’ve been racking in leave days – I can’t even remember the last time I took sick leave – and I think you have some day off stored as well, what do you think about skipping town?”

Something flared in Wheein eyes as she looked at Byul – something like hope – but Byul wasn’t sure. Wheein has expressive eyes, something that Byul really adores about her, her eyes were the window to her soul and this time, Byul hope that she wasn’t wrong with her reading.

“When?” Wheein’s voice cracked, clearing her throat, she asked the same question again, clearly this time.

“Today.” Byul smiled when she saw the light twinkle in Wheein’s eyes and her demon purred at the happiness that shone from her angel’s eyes.

“What about the gala dinner?”

“What about the gala dinner?” Byul smirked when she saw understanding dawned in Wheein’s eyes, her dimple deepened as a bright smile graced her lips.

“Byul?”

“Hmm?”

“I want breakfast in bed.”

Byul frowned, she only bought coffee and Wheein favorite yogurt, but that’s it, “What do you want to eat, I could buy some for you now.”

“I’m not talking about food.”

Byul blinked, her mouth shaping into a perfect O, “Oh.”

“Yep. Oh. Now come here before I change my mind.”

Byul didn’t have to be told twice, and truth be told, she didn’t even remember when was the last time she stripped off her clothes that fast.

***

 

Wheein gasped when their private car went passed the security gate, tall coconut trees lined the private laneway – bordering the lush green hills on each side of the road – the sun shone brightly despite it was late in the afternoon, a far cry from the icy coldness of Seoul.  

Pulling some strings from her vast network, Byul managed to secure them business class seats to the tropical island for a beach retreat without any hassle. Within hour and packing lightly, they found themselves boarding the plane for a 7 hours’ flight to Bali. When Wheein asked her why Bali, Byul simply shrugged, “Why only skip town when you can skip the country.”

Wheein was speechless when their car stopped at the end of the road. Byul said something about a private villa, what she forgot to mention was that the Villa would be luxury personified. The Villa has a Mediterranean feel to it, with chic and modern interior and enough room to house an army, private pools and its own private beach.

A smile permanently fixed on Byul’s face as she followed Wheein walked around their home for the next week with fascination, allowing herself to be drag toward the master bedroom and laughed when Wheein excitedly pointed at the infinity pool placed directly in front of their patio.

Circling Wheein’s waist with her arms, she held on tight when Wheein leaned against her, both simply stood there for a while, transfixed by the breath taking view of the ocean right in front of them and the sound of waves crashing softly against the sandy beach. 

“It’s beautiful….”

“Just like you.” Wheein smiled when she heard Byul’s words but instead of teasing her for being greasy as per usual, she leaned forward and captured Byul’s lips in a long kiss instead. For a moment they both were lost in the peace and tranquillity of it, just the two of them, in a world where only the two of them existed.

They broke their kiss after a while, pressing their forehead together, smiling at each other, “So, what do you want to do right now?” hand caressing Wheein’s back slowly, she grinned when she saw the mischievous glint on Wheein’s dark eyes.

“Well, we do have a very large bed behind us...” warm hands slipped beneath Byul’s shirt and Byul’s abdomen tightened from the touch.

“I’m kind of tired after the long flight, nap time?” she faked a yawn and laughed, avoiding Wheein’s playful pinch on her stomach. Wrapping her arms around the lithe body, she brushed their noses together in an Eskimo kiss, “We might miss dinner if we start now.”

Tangling her fingers on Byul’s hair, Wheein drew Byul closer to her, “Screw dinner...” she whispered against Byul’s lips before claiming it with her own.

 

Byul smiled as she watched Wheein ran ahead of her on the sandy beach, after christening their bed, they decided to take a walk on the beach and catch the sunset before heading out for dinner. She chuckled a little as Wheein squealed when the waves touched her bare feet, a grin stretched widely on her pretty face as she yelled out for Byul to join her.

Feeling a vibration from the back of her jeans short pocket, she took out her phone and cold dread took hold of her when she saw the caller ID.

“Is she with you?” Byul swallowed back her greeting when Mrs. Jung asked her point blank without any preamble.

“Who?” Byul knew it was futile the second the question left her lips, but she tried anyway. She swore she could almost hear Wheein’s mother roll her eyes at her question. Byul couldn’t contain her smile – Wheein and her mother – the two of them have so many things in common.

“Byul, I practically watched you grow up into... well, you. So please, don’t try to be stupid with me, it’s so unbecoming of you and it’s insulting to my intelligence. I’ve been calling her for almost an hour now, so did my husband, and so were other people I would rather not mention. My daughter is with you, isn’t she?”

Byul cleared her throat, if there’s anyone in this world who could put the fear of god in her, it was definitely this woman, “Hypothetically speaking...“ Byul cringed when Wheein chose that particular moment to yell out her name, asking her to hurry up.

The silent grew from the other side and Byul was suddenly very afraid for her life, “Mrs. Jung?” she nearly stammered out.

“Where are you?”

She bit her lips and prayed to whomever listening that she would still have a head when they returned to Korea, “Bali.”

A warm chuckle greeted her ears and Byul exhaled the breath that she didn’t knew she held, “Good. At least she won’t be here to endure this non-sense. How long are you two would be there?”

“7 days, it’s an impromptu decision, so... uh... that’s the earliest available flight.”

“Oh I don’t mind. Enjoy it as long as possible, at least I know you won’t be able to get my daughter pregnant no matter how much sex you two would be having.” and Byul never been more relieved that she was not digesting anything at the moment, she’d sure she’ll die from choking if she was. 

“Byul?”

“Yes mam!” she nearly put her hand in a salutation position, until she remembered that she was actually talking on the phone, not face to face with the formidable woman. 

“Take care of her will you.” Her voice was soft and for a moment Byul was sorry that she encouraged Wheein to turn off her phone for the day, knowing that Mrs. Jung was probably worried sick about her daughter where about.

“With my life.”

“Of course, because you won’t have one if she’s hurt in any way.”

Byul burst out a laugh, “Of course.”

“Tell her that she’s grounded after she got back home, I’m not sure how because she’s a grown up and already living on her own, but I’m sure I’ll think of a way. Tell her… Tell her that I understand and she shouldn’t worry about her dad, and … that I love her. Got that young lady?”

Byul smiled and nodded, even though she knew that Mrs. Jung wouldn’t be able to see it, “Yes, mam.”

“And I love you too, don’t forget that. Now go, have fun, don’t forget to sleep and eat, and… well, you two don’t need any protection, but please hydrate yourself and take a break once in a while.”

Byul nearly choke, if anyone ever told her that she would have this kind of conversation with Mrs. Jung, she would tell whoever it was to commit themselves to the nearest asylum, yet… apparently the universe wants to the show the humans that they were unpredictable. She remembered that she only mumbled something incoherent and heard the short chuckle from the other side before Mrs. Jung bid her goodbye.

 

Jung Hye Soo ended the connection and smiled to herself, proud at the bold move that Byul made by whisking away her daughter to another country.

“Did you get through to Wheein? Or Byul? She’s not here as well, they must be together, right?” the short haired woman looked toward her approaching husband, the worry was obvious on his face, and she almost told her husband that their daughter was fine, and yes, she was with Byul and from the distant shout that she heard before, sounded very very happy.

“No. Her phone still dead, I can’t get a hold on Byul either. Look, I’m sure she’s fine. Beside, can you blame her? Didn’t you see how uncomfortable she was at the dinner last night? This is just a gala dinner to welcome Yuri back to Korea, why do you need her to be here anyway?”

She watched her husband fidget nervously and narrowed her eyes in suspicion, “Honey, is there something that you didn’t tell me?”

The quick shook of his head and his fast denial only added to her suspicion. She swept her gaze around the grand ballroom, decorated in style with nuance of gold, the already luxurious ballroom felt even grander than its original form. It seemed like the Kwon spared no expenses in welcoming their daughter back, although it was too excessive in her opinion, unless...

“Is there any other occasion aside from a welcoming party?” she waited for her husband to answer, but the man kept his silence.

“Yes.”

Mrs. Jung turned around, facing Yuri who stood there with a sad smile on her face and a small velvet box on her hand. She looked at the box with unconcealed disdain and looked at Yuri straight in her eyes, “Well, good thing my daughter was not here then.” She turned to her husband again, displeasure written all over her face, “I will make my round of greeting, but afterwards, you and I need to have a very serious talk, husband.”

She squared her shoulder and held her head high, a pleasant smile already forming on her lips – masking the disappointment that she felt toward her husband – only the thought that her daughter was out there being happy instead of in this trap that kept her from unleashing her wrath. 

***

 

Yuri’s eyes were unfocused as she stared at the play of lights reflecting off the princess cut diamond. Wheein was still unreachable and now, she still wasn’t on her desk and it was almost lunch time. * _Where are you?_ *

She had it all planned out perfectly. The core of her problem with Wheein was her aversion to come out of the closet and hiding their relationship from the world. That’s why she planned to propose to her at the Gala, she wanted to show her that she was serious, no more hiding. She wanted nothing more than to marry Wheein. Wheein was the _one_. 

Raking her fingers through her hair in frustration, she closed the lid of the velvet box and put it back on her desk’s drawer. She didn’t see Moon Byul Yi on the Gala and the lights on her office was still off as well, it didn’t take much to put two and two together. Her jaw clenched, the one thing that she didn’t prepare for was the appearance of the corporate law partner in Wheein’s life.

No. Wheein loves her. She’s sure of it. She just need more time to crack through her defense and they would be together again, how could they not? They were perfect for each other. All she need was time, and no distraction. She stood up, renewed in her belief, all she need to do is figured out where Wheein was for the time being.

 

“Where’s Wheein?”

Hyejin looked up when she heard the short sharp knock followed by the question from her direct boss. A tiny smirk appeared on her lips as she leaned back on her chair and regarded the woman with a calm gaze.

“She took leave of absence for a couple of days.”

Hyejin took pleasure when she saw the frown of frustration forming on Yuri’s face. She wished she could cackle, but that would be too obvious.

“Where? I never authorized her leave.”

“I don’t know, I’m not her keeper and you don’t have to authorize it, she’s still my direct subordinate, so I could authorize her leave without going through you.”

Frustration rolled off from Yuri’s body like a wave, the dark eyes that glared at her were no different, and Hyejin’s smile widened.

“But shouldn’t you at least know their whereabouts or any reachable number in case of emergency?”

Hyejin raised one of her eyebrow, “Well, we don’t have any pressing case right now, it’s all still under control, beside she’s a junior. Any emergency can be handled by the senior.”

“Next time, any authorization for junior lawyer’s leave have to go through me.” Hyejin could sense the bitterness and anger lacing her words, but she just nodded nonchalantly, eyes glinting with challenge.

“No problem.  When can I get the memo then?”

“Memo?”

“Yes, HR memo about this new rule. We’re talking about leave authorization here, that’s HR job. Good luck getting the consent from the other partners, you do know that to change any rules you will need other partner’s consent right?”

Hyejin smiled sweetly when Yuri stared at her. The other woman finally nodded at her tersely and opened the door with more force than necessary before glancing back at her at the last minute, “Do you know where Miss Moon is? I need to talk to her about something.”

 “Again. Not her keeper, have no idea.”

She shouldn’t feel any happiness when she saw the scowl formed on Yuri’s face, but there’s just a perverse satisfaction blooming inside of her whenever she saw the annoyance flashed on the partner’s face, * _Karma is a goddamn bitch_ *

***

 

Byul traced a lazy pattern on Wheein’s naked back – who still sleeping peacefully on her stomach – smiling to herself, she felt some sort of pride for wearing the younger woman out until she was out like a light. She thought back at all the things that they had done together and her lower abdomen tightened in response, filled with the sudden desire to wake Wheein up and make love to her again.

They had spent all Sunday in bed – their love making ranging from wild bordering on desperate to achingly slow and sweet – with only brief respite for food out of necessity and because Byul didn’t think she could have another orgasms without going into a cardiac arrest.

Wheein stirred – cheek still flushed from sleep – her dark eyes opening slowly while a satisfied smile formed on her lips, and Byul could feel her heart pounding heavily in her chest at the sight in front of her.

“Morning...” Wheein reached out and traced the older woman’s jaw with her fingertips, “I don’t think I could move.” She laughed when she saw the smirk forming on Byul’s lips. “Don’t get too cocky.” She groaned as she rolled her body around and stretched, giving Byul the opportunity to trailed her lips on Wheein’s neck and bite it lightly, making Wheein hummed as her fingers combed through Byul’s hair lazily.

“Well... if my memory served me right, you’re enjoying it.”

“Oh yeah, yesterday morning... and then the afternoon, and then last night and then as the dawn breaks... Byul... I serious don’t want to move.”

Byul laughed against Wheein’s throat, hands skimming down the length of Wheein’s body, before resting it on her hip, “Well... we could have a reprise of yesterday.”

Wheein chuckled, slapping Byul’s hand away playfully, “You’re insatiable. Honestly though, I’m sore, I think I used muscles that I never knew even exist.”

The picture of Wheein with both of her legs up as Byul pounded inside of her with their favorite toy flashed on Byul’s mind and she growled, her lower region clenched at the memory, “Your fault, if you don’t look or taste so good, I won’t be this addicted to you.” She took one pink nipple into her mouth and suckled gently.

Wheein’s lips parted in a soft moan, her breathing becoming ragged as Byul’s hand ran over her taut stomach down to find the liquid heat between her legs, “Byul...” she hissed when Byul’s fingers slide into her, her hips bucked as Byul’s thumb glide over her clit.

Byul watched Wheein’s face intently, taking in the deepening flush on her cheek, the darkening of her eyes, the breath that came in short pant. She felt Wheein’s inner muscle tightening around her fingers, growing bold by Wheein’s reaction, she quickened the movement of her fingers made easier by the slickness of Wheein’s arousal, coaxing another orgasm out of Wheein’s body.

Blinded for a moment by the intense pleasure, Wheein inhaled sharply as her body surrendered to the sexual satisfaction that Byul gave her, “Baby... what you do to me....”

“Loving you...” Byul gaze deep into Wheein’s eyes, catching the flicker of emotion that appeared briefly in the dark orb. She gasped when Wheein grasped her shoulder, pulling her into a deep kiss, tangling their tongues together and once again lost in each other arms.

 

Hand intertwined together, soft sands beneath their bare feet, ocean breeze playing with their hairs, the full moon looming on the clear sky above them, lighting their path on their nightly stroll along the beach, while the sounds of waves softly crashing filled the comfortable silence between them, Wheein was sad that it was their last night in the Island of the Gods.

She hated the thought of leaving their own little slice of heaven, their vacation had been a dream, sailing on a private yacht in the break of dawn to catch the sun rise in the horizon amidst swimming dolphin, navigating through the throng of people and haggling at the traditional market, eating local spicy pig suckling which Byul bravely endure since Wheein loves spicy food while she could barely tolerate them, having her sunglasses snatched away by monkey much to Wheein’s delight and fascination, dinner on the beach overlooking the ocean serenaded by the local singers, to moonlight stroll on the beach just like right now.

The thought of returning back to Seoul weighed on her mind, it felt like being plucked from a beautiful dream only to be thrown back to reality. “Penny for your thoughts?” Wheein looked up and smiled a little, shaking her head slightly.

“Can we just stay here?”

Byul stopped, turning sideway to cup Wheein’s face carefully with her hand, she saw the melancholy on Wheein’s eyes and brushed her thumb over Wheein’s cheek softly, “I wish we could.”

Wheein sighed, sitting down on the soft sand, she drew an abstract pattern with her finger. Returning back to Seoul mean returning back to her current situation and the memory of the awkward dinner came tumbling down along with Byul’s reaction to it.

Byul sat down behind her, wrapping her arms around the younger woman allowing Wheein to lean back against her, they stayed that way for a while until Wheein broke the silence.

“Why did you tell me to go to the dinner with Yuri?” 

Byul’s heart twitched, although she was not sure whether it was because she heard the sadness in Wheein’s voice or because Wheein’s question brought back the memory of seeing Wheein in Yuri’s arms.

Tucking her chin on Wheein’s shoulder, she tightened her hold on the younger woman’s body, “I know that you’re uncomfortable with the whole situation, but sometimes, facing it head on would be better than just running away from it.”

“It’s just... for me it felt like you pushed me away, like you literally turned your back on me and....” Wheein shifted, hiding her face on the crook of Byul’s neck, the shiver that suddenly wrecked through her body lessened slightly as Byul wrapped her tighter in her arms, holding her for dear life.

Pressing her lips on Wheein’s temple, Byul was consumed by the guilt that started from the pit of her stomach that climbed up fast and ended up in a burst on her heart, “No...” she croaked out her voice, “Never... I would never turn my back on you....”

“Don’t ever make promises that you couldn’t keep...”

The whispered words painted the young woman fragility and Byul closed her eyes tightly, “This is a promise that I could and would always keep, Wheepup... no matter what happened, I will always stand beside you.”

Wheein was silent for a moment, struggling to voice out the remnant of hurt that she could still felt lingering, "It just didn’t feel that way at the time, she just cornered me and she... I was so happy when you came, but I saw the look on your face, you looked... you looked as if you just thought the worst had happened and that you simply closed off... and..."

Byul's guilt intensified and she only have herself to blame, "She was your first love... and judging from the way you still reacted strongly at the sight of her, I thought..."

A small smile ghosted over Wheein’s lips, to say that she was disappointed would be an understatement, she wanted to yell at Byul, but she couldn’t, it was just too human of a mistake to blame her for it, "Are you turning into a mind reader now?"

“No….”

“You need to realized that you’re not always right.”

Byul smiled at that slight reprimand and nodded, “Yes, sweetheart.”

Wheein pinched Byul’s arm lightly, “Good. You and your denseness, I don’t know why I put up with you.”

“Hey, I have many other charms.” Byul protested weakly, glad that Wheein already smiling at her again.

“Yes, you do. Byul…  No matter what happened in the future, promise me that we will talk about it? I don’t want us to end up like a K-drama.”

Byul laughed, pressing a kiss on Wheein’s cheek, she whispered in earnest, “Always...”

Wheein looked up, her breath catches slightly when she saw the emotion that written clearly on Byul’s face, holding the arms that held hers just a little tighter, Wheein pressed her lips on the Byul’s pulse point, “Always...”

 ***

 

Byul knocked on Old Jung’s office and walked in without waiting for his permission. The request for Byul to come to his office came as no surprise for the platinum haired lawyer. She pretty sure that everyone with half a brain could connect the coincidence timing of hers and Wheein’s absence of leave.

She took a seat on the plush chair in front of the old man work desk and crossed her legs calmly, waiting to hear what the old man had to say.

Jung Doo Hoon was a fair man – a man of integrity who love his family above all else – he always prides himself for always doing the right thing, but as he looked at the young woman that he considered as his protégé, he wasn’t sure whether he could keep that pride of his.

“We’re expanding, Byul-ah.”

One sculptured eyebrow rose, Byul tried to guess what the old man would say to her, but never in her wildest imagination that it would be that.

“As you know, we’ve been expanding throughout Asia and South East Asia, but me and Old Kwon have been talking about expanding to Europe and America as well. We already established a good networking system with some of the lawyers in Europe and just a couple of days ago, we got a green light to talk about possibility of partnership with one of the biggest law fim in London. I assumed you are familiar with Grant & Allen LLP?”

Byul nodded, her gut twisted, she got the inclination of where this conversation was going and she didn’t like it.

“They wanted a pre-run, an exchange of lawyers, they would have one of their senior lawyer stations here in Korea as a liaison and we would station one of our own there in London. Short term of course, until we finalized the partnership, and then depending on the negotiation, it could be a permanent base.”

He looked at Byul with searching eyes, watching for any kind of reaction and received none. Clearing his throat, he looked at Byul expectantly, “Byul-ah... this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, we’re talking about branching out to the world, here. So.... I couldn’t think of anyone else that could represent our firm better than you.”

“How long?”

The old man smiled brightly and Byul felt sick to her stomach.

“You would do it?”

“I’m asking for how long.”

“6 months’ top.”

“And if I refuse?”

The older man frowned, “Then you are not a team player, I would have to give you a disciplinary action.”

“Disciplinary... as in what? Benching me without pay?  Demote me to senior associate?” Byul looked imploringly at the older man from her seat, noting his uncomfortable stance, his avoidance to look at her in the eyes, “No matter which action you choose, you would need to secure majority vote in the partner’s meeting.”

He cleared his throat, hands clasped tightly in front of him as he looked carefully at Byul, “It’s doable. Push comes to shove, as managing partner I hold the tie breaker vote.”

“And you would vote against me.” Byul stated calmly, already knew what the answer would be even without his confirmation.

“Yes.”

She leaned forward, legs spread, hands clasped together mirroring him, “This is not about me being the only one qualified to represent the firm, isn’t it? This is about me and Wheein, you want me out of the picture.” She delivered her words as calmly as possible, eyes trained fully to the man that was her hero for such a long time, the same person who believed and stood by her for the last decade, yet now they were standing on different side of the fences.

He threw his glasses on the desk and glared at Byul, “You are a bad influence for her! You practically abducted my daughter out of the country, I was worried sick for the better part of the week, thinking the worst had happened because I can’t get a hold on her! She never did that before! She won’t even talk to me now!”

Byul arched her eyebrow at his outburst before calmly spoke to him, “And you never thought that it was because you pushed her to the one person that broke her heart not so long ago?”

“And you think that she would be better off with you? I know you, Byul! I know your track record with women! What would happen when you grow bored with her? I know the way you treat women, and I will not have you cast away my daughter like she was used goods! You need to stay away from her, you hear me?”

Byul wished that it didn’t hurt, that words shouldn’t be able to hurt her as much as this, but it did. Coming from the man that she respected and knowing the truth about the way he really thought about her hurts. “I would never hurt Wheein.”

“Yet. But you will. Like I said, I know you. And I will not let my daughter be hurt by you. So this is how it’s going to be, you will go to London, you will stay there for the allotted time and you will not contact my daughter, no skyping, no call, no text, no email. Nothing. She would be sad for a while, bless her soft heart, but she would move on, she would forget you.”

“Because there would be Yuri by her side? Is that it?” her voice was filled with silent rage, but she knew the old man noticed the cutting edge of her voice.

“This is not about her. This is about me, protecting my daughter. I know how much this firm mean for you, this is your whole world, your whole life. So I suggest you think it through and think it carefully, I will have your answer by the end of the week. I hope you would choose wisely.”

She knew she was being dismissed, it was clear from the finality of his words and it was clear from his movement as well. Picking up his discarded reading glasses, he put it back on and looked at the documents in front of him, ignoring her presence, as if she was not still sitting there in front of him.

She gave him one last final look before uncoiling herself from the seat, she wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, but she was too angry at him, angry at the situation and angry at herself to even produce a sound. So she did the only thing that she could think of right then, she left.

 

Walking out from Old Jung’s office, she paused when she came face to face with the woman that rolled the dice and created the snowballing avalanche in her life.

“Welcome back.”

Byul wished she could wipe the smirk off her face, preferably with her knuckles, but she knew that violence would only make matter worse. Byul gestured toward the closed door, face passive, she barely took a couple of steps when Yuri’s voice stopped her in her track. 

“I heard congratulation is in order.”

“Excuse me?”

“My father let me in on the potential collaboration with Grant & Allen LLP, heard they sending you to London.”

Byul smiled calmly, both hands tucked inside her pants pocket, she regarded Yuri with a cool gaze, “I haven’t agree on it. I’m sure there are other people that would be qualified to fill the position, you maybe, since you have experiences working in foreign law firm.”

“I thought it’s been decided that it would be you.”

Byul saw the brief panic that flashed across Yuri’s face, smirking slightly she took a step closer to the other woman, “By whom? The managing partner? Well, I might not be equity partner, but I’m still a partner, I will ask for a partner meeting, we’ll vote on it.”

Taking another step closer to the dark haired woman until they almost stood toe to toe, Byul cocked her head slightly, “Or you didn’t think of it when you asked Old Jung to break the news to me?”

A telltale of flush suffused Yuri’s face and Byul need no further confirmation, “what do you think you’re doing? Do you even think about this firm? You’re pitting us against each other here.”

Yuri flinched and took a step backward, “All fair in love and war...” she gulped and licked her suddenly dry lips. “If... if you give me your words that you would stay away from Wheein, then I will vote against you going to London. You can stay here, just... let Wheein go.”

Byul’s jaw clenched, “What?” her voice was dangerously low. 

“I will do anything to get her back, Wheein is mine. I won’t let you take her away from me. I don’t care what I have to do, I will win her back.”

“Wheein is not a thing!” Byul hissed, she took a step closer to the woman, eyes flashed with indignant anger, “She’s not a trophy to be won and she is not a possession. If that’s how you really feel about her? then you didn’t deserve her at all.”

She stared at the younger woman for a brief few moment, making sure that she already drove the point home before quickly walking away, she nearly at her limit not to strangle the woman.

 

Yuri was still shaking with fury after her brief encounter with the platinum haired lawyer, * _how dare she... how dare she said that she didn’t deserve Wheein..._ * she slammed the door to her office and halted when she saw the subject of her dream standing there in her office.

“Wheein....”

The cold gaze that Wheein gave her sent jolt to her heart, but she forced a smile to form on her face as she approached the smaller woman.

“I heard that you looked for me? Anything I could do for you, Partner Kwon?”

“I... “

Her mouth slammed shut and turned into a grim line when she saw a shadow of love mark on the juncture of Wheein’s neck, barely covered by her shirt’s collar. Bitterness... that’s all she could felt at that particular moment, she knew exactly who put that mark on Wheein’s neck, she knew who Wheein spent the week with and she could barely hold onto her logic.

“Yes... I wanted to tell you the good news myself.”

“What good news?”

“We’re branching out.” Yuri smiled, “Grant & Allen LLP agreed to collaborate with us, we’re going to have a branch office in London, can you believe that?”

The smile that Wheein bestowed upon her this time was genuine, “That’s great! Although I don’t know why you have to tell that to me personally, I mean, I would hear about it anyway when the partners announce it.”

“Yeah well, we’re still hashing the detail of the partnership, but once Miss Moon stationed there as our liaison....”

“What...” Wheein cut her off, clearly she misheard, Byul? Byul going to London?

“She didn’t tell you? We’re exchanging lawyers with them, and Byul will be the one that represent the firm, she would need to stay there for 6 months at least.”

"It’s not the good news that you wanted to tell me isn’t it? It’s this...you did this didn’t you?"

Yuri had the grace to look offended by the accusation, feigning innocence, "Why you always think the worst of me? I'm new here, do you really think I have the pull to appoint her to go and without her consent?"

"She would not.. she would've told me..."

"Maybe you didn’t know her as well as you think, this is a chance in a lifetime, surely she has plan of her own, to spread her wings and what not."

"Byul would tell me!!" Wheein’s eyes flashed with her burgeoning anger, she felt sick in the pit of her stomach and the room started to feel closing in on her, she can’t be in the same room with this woman.

Storming out from the office – ignoring Yuri’s shout of her name – she ran to Byul’s office, she needed to talk to Byul, this can’t be happening, not now… not when…

“Is it true? They sending you to London?” she went inside Byul’s office without knocking, startling the older woman who quickly stood up and went to her.

“Where did you hear that?” concerned filled Byul’s face when she looked at the distraught look on Wheein’s face.

“Just tell me that’s not true! You’re not going to London!”

Byul wrapped her arms around Wheein who went willingly, holding onto Byul for dear life, “No… I’m not going anywhere. Wheein, look at me… “

She cupped Wheein’s face with her hand and smiled tenderly at her, “No one could make me leave, okay?”

“But….”

Byul shook her head slightly, “Do you trust me?”

“Byul….”

Byul looked at Wheein’s eyes firmly, “Do you trust me?” she repeated, wanting nothing else but to erase the shadow of doubt in Wheein’s eyes, she knew who put it there and the anger that she managed to curb earlier rose again with a vengeance.

“Yes….” Wheein whispered, her entire being wanted to believe in Byul. She closed her eyes when Byul pressed a kiss on her heated forehead, trying to find solace in Byul whispered words that everything would be alright, it has to be, because she couldn’t imagine her life without Byul in it. Not anymore.

***

 

The rest of the day went by in a blur and Wheein found herself staring at the text that she just received from Yuri, cold dread spreading on her body.

* _Byul called for a partner meeting, but I just talked to some of the other partners, they couldn’t agree more that Byul should be the one that represent the firm in London._ *

Lost in her thought, she was startled when Byul walked out from the bathroom, hands still busy drying off her hair, “Byul… did you call for a partner meeting about the partnership?”

“Yes, I want to settle this non-sense once and for all, who told you?”

“I… I just received a text from the juniors, they heard about an emergency partner meeting, so I thought it was that…” Wheein looked down, unable to look at Byul, she was afraid that Byul would saw through her lie. Guilt weighed heavily on her, they promised each other that they would always talk about things, but she knew that this is not a simple matter, she knew why Yuri was so adamant to send Byul out of the country, what she didn’t know was just how much pull she had with the other partners.

“Are you close with the other partners? I mean, you need majority votes right?”

“I was the one that hijacked the family law partner and the IPR partner from their previous law firms, they will vote for me, the others are swing voters, but I can be really persuasive, don’t worry.”

Wheein gave her a shaky smile, her heart thudding wildly, “What happened if you lost?”

“I’ll quit.”

Wheein’s heart nearly stopped at Byul’s answer, she knew how much the firm mean to Byul. It was her home, she poured all of her heart and soul into the firm, it was as much her legacy as the other two founding fathers, and the thought of Byul losing it just because of her nearly killed Wheein inside.

No… she couldn’t let it happened. Not to her Byul… she would make things right, she wouldn’t let anything or anyone hurt Byul anymore. Not because of her….

She looked down on her phone, fingers shaking as she typed the reply message, _*You need to stop this instance, leave Byul out of it, what do you want?*_

She received the reply in mere seconds, _*You know what I want, we could start by breakfast tomorrow, just you and me. Let’s talk.*_

Wheein looked at the message, her heart felt like there was mountain of stones pressing against it, taking a shaky breath, she looked up and watched Byul drying her hair while sitting at the edge of bed, watching the news, looking peaceful and she wanted to keep her like that, happy and carefree.

_*Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.*_ she typed the words quickly and put away her phone on the night stand.

“Byul?”

“Hmm?” Byul looked back at her and the tender smile on Byul’s face pierced through Wheein’s heart. She’s doing the right thing, she repeated those words in her head and gave Byul a smile of her own.

“Make love to me…”

Light twinkled in Byul’s eyes and Wheein memorized it, etching it into her brain, Byul’s smile, Byul’s warm eyes, Byul’s lips, Byul’s touch…

_*I’m sorry….*_ Wheein whispered in her mind as Byul’s lips locked with hers, wrapping her arms tightly around the woman that managed to make her believe in love once more. Byul gave her that gift, so she will return it with another gift of her own, she would protect Byul with the only way that she knew how.

_*I love you….*_

She said it clearly inside her head before she was lost in Byul’s arms for the last time. 


	16. Last Chapter

Guilt.

The guilt felt like a bitter poison on her tongue when she lied to Byul about why she won’t be going with her to the office. Saying that she had to meet with a client for a breakfast meeting, she gave Byul a long lingering deep kiss before she went on her way with a heavy heart.

Wheein grimaced when she arrived at the front of the American style brunch café near the office, her feet hesitant to walk inside. Taking a deep breath to brave herself, she put on a smile when one of the waitresses opened the door for her and thanked her politely, the café was almost filled, yet she found Yuri easily.

Yuri quickly stood up when she saw Wheein walking toward her table, her smile was nearly blinding and brightened up her beautiful features.

"You look beautiful. As always." Wheein accepted the kiss that the older woman gave her on her cheek before she took the seat across from her.

"I heard their breakfast special is good, do you want to order that? Or do you want anything else?" Yuri looked over at her from across the table, menu book already opened in front of her.

"Ice Americano would be fine, I'm not really hungry."

"Breakfast special it is then."

Wheein rolled her eyes at Yuri's blatant disregard to her words and let the older woman gave their order to the waitress. She looked sideway through the window, watching people milling around the street, all busy going through with their life and there she was, ignoring the stare that Yuri sent her way.

"Are you just going to ignore me again?"

“I agree to have breakfast with you, not ignoring you was never mentioned."

Yuri heaved a deep sigh, "Will we ever have a civilize conversation again without you trying to shoot me down every time?"

"Depends, will you stop acting like an asshole the whole time?" Wheein smiled sweetly at her for a brief second before her lips turned into a grim line once again.

"An asshole? Really now?" Yuri smiled, as if finding it amusing.

"Oh I don’t know, let’s see, how would you describe forcing me to work inside your office for almost a week, doing things that I have no idea about? What else? Oh right, forcing the partners to vote for you to get rid of Byul. I thought you would be above that, but oh noooo... you just keep on lowering my expectation of you. So congratulations on that."

Yuri actually laughed at Wheein's annoyance, "God, this is why I missed you so much. You're the only woman in this world that dare say those kind of words to my face."

Wheein raised her eyebrow at that, "I wonder why, oh, maybe because you keep surrounding yourself with foolish women that will just crumble at your feet for just a scrap of your attention."

"Isn’t that what your Byul been known for as well? Your dad told me a very interesting story about her, apparently she had quite a reputation as a heartbreaker."

"At least she was honest from the get go. She never gives people hope just because she likes having fans." Wheein's eyes flashed with anger at the mention of Byul's name. She had no right to even breathe Byul's name, let alone comparing herself to Byul.

"Speaking about Byul..."

"Stop. Whatever you want to say, stop." Wheein took a deep breath, suddenly feeling tired, "Let’s just get on with it, what exactly that you want from me?"

Yuri simply looked at her for a couple of minutes before she leaned forward, both of her hands reaching out to clasp Wheein’s hands in hers.

“A second chance, just give me a second chance to show you that this time it would be different. Baby, I came out, my family knew and accepted it, they couldn’t be happier when they found out that you were the one that I chose. My family adores you and I love you more than life, so please give me a second chance to make this work between us.”

Wheein could see the desperation in Yuri’s eyes and her heart goes out to her, that she still clung so tightly to their memory together.

“Honey?”

Wheein froze when she heard the familiar voice. Hands still clasped tightly between Yuri’s, she could only whirl around and came eye to eye with a disapproving look of her mother.

“Mom!”

“Shouldn’t you be in the office?”

“We’re having a breakfast meeting, Auntie.” Yuri smoothly replied, a polite smile already forming on her lips.

“Didn’t look like a meeting to me.”  Mrs. Jung glanced at their clasped hands with disdain until Yuri finally had the grace to release Wheein’s hand.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” Wheein stood up and gave her mother a hug, a part of her was elated to see her mother, yet, another part of her was scared when she saw the dark look that crossed her mother’s face.

“I was supposed to meet my friends here for breakfast, but they cancelled. Imagine my shock when I saw the two of you here.” She shooed Wheein aside before gracefully sitting in front of Yuri, relegating Wheein to sit near the window beside her.

“Please join us for breakfast then, we just ordered. Do you want me to get you the menu?”

“Sure, although I think I’ll just have some coffee. I somehow lost my appetite.”

“Right, of course.” Yuri forced another smile into her face. She knew that Mrs. Jung didn’t exactly welcome her with open arms, but she believed that with time, she’ll be able to charm her future mother in law as well. She quickly approached the waitress and fetched the menu herself, good manner always a plus point in front of the elder.

She sat back down after giving Mrs. Jung the menu and tried to make small talk but the atmosphere grew increasingly awkward by the second and she starting to sweat under her collar, “This is nice, remember when we used to have meals like this together when you visited us in New York? The good old times.”

Mrs. Jung looked dismissingly at her before perusing the menu once again, “Really? I don’t recall.” She closed the menu with a sigh and looked at Wheein – who had been really quiet the whole time – “Since you already skip the office today, why don’t you and I have a real breakfast, let’s go the Park’s restaurant.”

“Ah, let me settle the bill first then.” Yuri rushed to stand, but Mrs. Jung told her to sit back down.

“No need to rush, enjoy your breakfast here, I was talking to my daughter only. You wouldn’t want to intrude on our mother-daughter bonding time, right? It’s been awhile since I saw my daughter. She’d been neglecting me lately, but then again, she’s dating a very beautiful woman. Young love, you know, they probably never leave the bed. Ah well, you don’t mind right?”

She didn’t wait for Yuri to reply, simply standing up, she motioned for Wheein to follow her. “Good day, Yuri- _ssi_.”

Too dumbfounded by what her mother just said, Wheein followed her without any other thought, * _what just happened?_ *

Lost for words after the crude dismissal, Yuri had to clear her throat just to find her voice again, “Of course, have a good day for you as well, Auntie.” She bowed to the older woman before looking back at Wheein.

“Wheein, I reserved a table for us at Jungsik Dang at 7 PM tonight, will you be at the office afterwards, or should I pick you up somewhere?”

“It’s fine. I’ll be there.”

Mrs. Jung raised her eyebrow at her daughter’s answer, but said nothing, she’ll just pry the full story out of her later on.

***

 

To say that Yuri was pissed was an understatement, Mrs. Jung practically ruined her chance to get an immediate answer from Wheein about the status of their relationship and with the partners meeting set up after lunch today, she needed her answer to direct the course of the vote. Maybe she should ask for a postponement, any time after tonight would be better.

She slowed her pace when she saw Byul came out from her office, directly in her line of direction toward her own office.

The platinum blond lawyer nodded at her in passing but Yuri stopped her on her track.

“I’m going to recommend someone else to go to London.”

“Excuse me?” Byul turned around slowly, eyebrow knitted together in confusion.

“In the partner’s meeting today, I would recommend someone else to go to London instead of you.”

Byul didn’t like the self-satisfied smug smile that spread on her lips and she wondered just what other plans that Yuri had on her sleeves.

“What’s with the change of heart?” she cautiously asked, by habit she tucked both of her hands on her pantsuit pockets.  

“It’s not me that had a change of heart.” The smile grew wider just like Byul’s suspicion got deeper.

“What do you mean?”

“I just had a nice little breakfast date with Wheein this morning. She agreed that our relationship deserved a second chance. She wanted us to take it slow, get to know each other again, start dating. I couldn’t be happier, so I decided to be…. How do you say it in Korean? Benevolent. Yes, out of the goodness of my heart and of course, because apparently I don’t have to be afraid of competition anymore…” 

Byul let her ranted long enough, and the more she talked, the more Byul knew that something just didn’t added up, although it didn’t lessen her growing anger, “What are you talking about?”

“Is there a matter with your hearing or there’s something a matter with your brain? I thought I was pretty clear about it.”

“You lost me at nice little breakfast date with Wheein, she had a meeting with a client this morning, don’t lie.”

Yuri laughed, “Oh my god, this is so precious. How do I put it gently for you…” she tilted her head and gave Byul a condescendingly look of sympathy, “She lied. She was with me this morning. Oh don’t look like that… did someone just stole your puppy?”

“Wheein would never lie to me.”

“Oh no…” Yuri let out a breathy laugh, “That’s so sweet, a bit on the naïve side, but sweet nonetheless. You didn’t believe me?” She cocked her eyebrow at Byul.

She presented her phone and pressed the speed dial, putting it on speaker as both of them listened to the sound of connection going through and soon Wheein’s voice can be heard from the other side of the line.

“What?”

“Just wanted to remind you about our date tonight, Baby.”

They both heard Wheein sighed, “Yuri, seriously, you just told me about dinner to my face like 20 minutes ago, I still remember and I already promised you that I will be there.”

Yuri chuckled when she saw the look of disbelief on Byul’s face right in front of her, her glee was cut short however when Wheein continued her words, “Have you talked to the other partners? They will vote for Byul staying right? You promised me….”

Yuri quickly slid her phone to cut the connection off, but too late, Byul already heard the words.

She narrowed her eyes to the now silent woman, she was right in guessing that something wasn’t right. What she didn’t believe was the length that this woman would go through just to get what she wanted, and Wheein… Byul clenched her fists inside of her pocket, Wheein lied. No matter the reason, she freaking lied to her. 

“You blackmailed her into giving you another chance? That’s the reason of your _benevolence_?” Byul almost spat the last word, eyes boring deeply into the other woman and was disgusted when she didn’t find any remorse in her clear dark eyes.

“She came to me on her own free will.”

“You honestly want to argue legalese with me? I heard you promised her your vote, counselor. That’s undue influence. You really stoop that low? All for what?” Byul shook her head, she pitied her.  She pities the fact that Yuri had to resort to this type of low tactic just to get Wheein back instead of fighting for her fair and square.

“You’re a coward. Instead of fighting me for her head on, you resorted to _this_. Are you really that selfish? Did you even consider Wheein’s feeling before doing all this?”

“Wheein will see that her rightful place was beside me.” Yuri tilted her chin in defiance. She hated the look on Byul’s eyes, as if she was someone unworthy.

Byul scoffed, “And delusional as well. I know that you’re used to getting what you wanted in life, but this? This is just pathetic.”

“It would make a difference if I care about what you think of me, unfortunately I don’t. At the end of the day, I win, and that’s all that matter.” Yuri smiled at her adversary, elated by the feeling of finally defeating her.

“We’ll see.” Quickly turning around, Byul cursed internally, she need to fix the mess that her little minx created and she need to do it fast, _*How could she be that goddamn stupid, damn it,  Jung Wheein!*_

***

 

Mrs. Jung shifted her body and looked at her daughter, confused by what she just heard, “Did you just say vote to make Byul stay?”

They were on their way to the Park restaurant when Yuri called. Avoiding her mother searching gaze by looking out the window of their car, Wheein bit her lips and wondered whether she should tell her mother the truth.

Wheein felt her mother fingers on her chin, directing her to look squarely at the older woman, “Honey, look at me. What’s wrong?”

“Maybe you should ask your husband what’s wrong.” Angry tears spilled out from her eyes once she saw the look of concern on her mother’s face. The restraint emotion finally burst out in the open. Angrily wiping her tears away, she turned her face away from her mother’s gentle eyes, afraid that she would burst into tears again

“What did he do this time?” silence met her question and the elder Jung sighed, her daughter and her stubbornness.

“Sweetheart, I can’t help you if you won’t talk to me.”

“Then call him and tell him not to send Byul to London!”

Taken aback by Wheein sudden outburst, she could only watch Wheein angrily wiped another errand tears that spilled down her flushed cheeks.

She remembered her husband’s anger when she finally told him that Wheein was with Byul, off to another country. He was concern with Byul’s reputation with women. She understood his concern, after all Wheein was their only child, her father’s princess and she already went through a tough break once. It was a parents’ prerogative to want to protect their children, but to actually send Byul away? That’s just too much.

“And that phone call with Yuri? What was it about?”

“Byul called a partner’s meeting, to vote on who will go to London. I have no idea what Yuri did, but she secured most of the partner’s vote and told me that if I give our relationship another chance then she would vote for Byul to stay… ”

“You did not.” Mrs. Jung looked at Wheein’s stormy eyes and found her answer, “I did not raise a stupid daughter.”

“What do you think I should do! Just sit back and do nothing? This is all my fault! I did this to Byul! If she lost the vote and have to go to London, she said she would quit and this firm means everything to her! And…”

“Honey, stop. You’re not making any sense.”

“I’m making perfect sense! I have to make things right! I can’t let Byul suffer because of me!”

“Why does it matter to you that Byul lost the firm, she could jump ship or just make her own law firm, why sacrifice yourself?”

“Because I love her!!”

The car slowed down and came into a full stop in front of Wheein’s favorite restaurant. “Madam, we’re here.” The driver who had been silent the whole ride spoke up hesitantly, afraid that he intruded on something important.

“Could you just drive us around, please?” the driver nodded and started the car again, keeping his eyes straight to the road ahead.

Mrs. Jung sighed and took one of Wheein hand into hers and clasped it gently, “You love her enough to do that for her?”

Wheein’s eyes was clear despite the tears that started to gather again in her eyes, she blinked and the tears fell, but she smiled at her mother, her first smile in this tiring day.

“All I ever wanted was to keep the smile on her face, nothing else matter. It doesn’t matter whether or not I could be there to share her happiness as long as she’s safe and free and happy. Byul need to be here for Yongsun unnie, she would be broken hearted if she has to leave her and like I said, the firm means the world for her. I want to protect what is important to Byul… is that so wrong?”

“Did you talk to her about it?” Mrs. Jung asked her daughter calmly.

“What?”

“Did you talk to Byul about it? Did you ask her the reason why she would rather quit than go to London? Did you tell her about Yuri and the votes?”

“Byul would never leave Yongsun unnie, of course she would rather quit.”

“Yongsun… the prosecutor? The one that was held hostage alongside Byul?” Wheein nodded, of course her mother knew about the case, her father must’ve told her about it.

“I have no idea what that woman got to do with this, but did Byul specifically told you that? Or it was just based on your assumption?”

“You don’t know anything about them, it was not just my assumption, Mom. It’s just the way it is.”

“But you didn’t have confirmation directly from Byul, right?”

“I don’t have to ask! Byul love Yongsun unnie!”

“Let’s say that it’s true. That Byul love her, love her enough to just leave everything that she worked so hard to achieve just to be with her, then tell me, what is she doing with you?”

“She…. We…. It’s just….”

“Sex?” Wheein blushed heavily at her mother’s directness and averted her eyes away.

“Honey… I know Byul since she was still in law school. I’m very familiar with her track record with women, I even scolded her about it. Now, how long have you two been doing it.”

“Okay mom, seriously, this is getting uncomfortable, we’re talking about my sex life here.”

“Oh please, don’t get innocence with me. Tell me, how long have you two been doing it?”

“I don’t know, two months or three months, maybe.”

“Okay, in all those times, did Byul ever been with another woman?” Wheein shook her head.

“How long since you practically moved in with her? Don’t lie, I visited your place a couple of times but you were never there.”

“I… maybe a month?” Wheein bit her lips.

“In those three months since you two have been dating, _nuh uh_ … young lady, don’t interrupt me, hear me out first. In those three months, is it always about sex?”

Wheein shook her head again, she starting to get the feeling where her mother was going with this.

“Let me sum it up for you then. Byul, who was notorious for being unattainable by anyone. I repeat. She was known to have an allergy for relationship. Not only did she was _exclusively_ being intimate with you for 3 months, I do believe that’s a record, congratulation, but she also let you moved in with her. Now, you said that it was not always about sex, so I would guess sometimes the two of you just spend time together and then go to sleep together, am I right? You don’t have to answer that, because of course I’m right.”

She raised her eyebrow at Wheein’s stubbornness which was obvious by the firmness of lips and the doubt that still lingered in her eyes.

“Like I said, I did not raise a stupid daughter. Do I have to spell it out for you then?”

“Fine! Oh my god mom, seriously! So Byul and I were dating, happy?”

“With you? No. Honey, have you ever think that the reason why Byul did not want to leave Seoul was not because of Yongsun? Maybe… just maybe, it was because of you?”

“No… she never said anything… we… she… she didn’t want relationship.”

“Oh that’s just a weak argument. You two never talked about it, but from what I just hear from you, you two are already in a relationship. Honey, take it from someone that’s been on this earth longer than you. You two need to talk, be honest with each other. You need to ask her point blank why she would rather quit the Firm than leave the country. You need to ask her how she felt about all of this instead of making a rash decision and just take a selfish action, yes, what you did? Making a one sided decision was selfish. It was not romantic. It was just plain stupid.”

Wheein’s face crumbled at her mother’s words, the helplessness that she felt suffocating her, “What should I do….” She whispered softly, she made a mess and she didn’t know how to get herself out of it.

Mrs. Jung reached out and caressed her daughter’s face softly, “Go to that dinner and talk to Yuri, if she really loves you, she will let you go. Then go and talk to Byul, tell her that you love her, you will never know what she truly feels until you ask her about it.”

Wheein fell into her mother’s embrace and wept, letting her mother’s comforting embrace soothed her battered soul, “What about dad?” she hiccuped slightly and her mother grinned.

“Let me handle him, let’s see how long he’ll last sleeping on the couch.”

“Ewww Mom, too much information!”

“I’m talking about his bad back! Get your mind out of the gutter!” she pressed a kiss on Wheein’s forehead and tightened her hold on her precious little bundle.

“Now let’s go eat, all this emotional talk makes me hungry. And don’t even think about playing with your phone while you’re with me. I’m taking you out on a mother – daughter healing trip because we both need it and I miss you, so no interruption.”

“Aye… Aye… mam!”

“Wheein?”

“Hmm?”

“Good choice, I never like Yuri. But Byul, she has hope.”

Wheein grinned and let her head fell back into her mother’s shoulder, hugging her arms closely, “Mom… that’s a really good counter argument, why do you stop practicing law?”

“Because there’s no other job in this world that I cherish more than being your mother.” She pressed a kiss on Wheein’s head and laid her cheek on top of it afterwards.

Wheein smiled, burrowing herself deeper into her mother’s warm side, she closed her eyes and sighed, “I love you mom.”

“Me too, baby girl.”

***

 

Byul barged into the managing partner’s office without knocking, much to Old Jung’s annoyance, “What now?”

“Giving you an answer.”

“About London?” Byul nodded tersely.

“Let’s hear it then, I hope that you made the right decision.”

“I quit.”

The old man gaped at her, too shock with what just came out of Byul’s mouth. Sputtering his disbelief, he slowly took off his reading glass to look at Byul clearly, “What?”

“You might think that this Firm means the world to me, that you could use it as a leverage to send me away – as you put it none too gently – to protect your daughter. But the thing is old man....” Byul gave him a sad little smile, “this Firm means nothing if I don’t have Wheein in my life."

Byul raked her hands through her long hair and gave him a little shake of her head along with a small smile, "Somewhere along the line, your daughter becomes everything to me. Everything. So... I quit. There you have it.”

The old man’s face grew grim as he listened to Byul’s words. The sad smile that Byul gave him weighed heavily on him – this young woman that always smirked cockily at him – there was just too much vulnerability in her eyes right now.

“I promised Wheein that I will always be by her side and I intended to keep my promise, whether you want believe it or not, that’s your choice. You might know me before, old man, but you don’t know the woman that fell head over heels in love with your daughter."

She gave him a long look, it was bittersweet, as if she was saying goodbye with her eyes. He was her mentor, the man that she looked up to, and this firm had her blood, sweat and tears in it. But it was all paled in comparison to what she had to give up. She would not back down if Wheein was at stake, no matter what the consequences. Wheein is more important than all of this. She needs Wheein like air to breathe. Wheein is her life.

"Now excuse me, I need to get to Wheein before she did anything even more stupid.”

Alarmed by her last words, the old man stood up, “Wait, what do you mean by anything stupid?”

“Apparently she agreed to be with Yuri again as long as Yuri will vote to keep me here.” Byul shook her head, still couldn’t wrapped her mind around that little tidbit of information and the fact that the little minx lied to her face yet gave her a goodbye kiss afterwards.

The old man stayed quiet, lost for words once again.

“Take care.” Byul gave him a two fingers salute, another small smile gracing her feature and the older man could only watch his protégé, the one person that he loved just like his own daughter walked away from him.

 

 

Byul almost cursed out loud when Wheein didn’t answer her phone, she wanted to strangle the younger woman and shook her to her senses. What was she thinking? Was she even thinking when she decided to get back with Yuri? And for what? Protect her?

She walked into Yuri’s office purposely until she reached the other end of her work table, glaring at the woman who sat rigidly when she saw Byul towering over her.

“I just gave my two weeks’ notice to the managing partner, effective immediately. I just take away your leverage.”

She spread her arms on top of the table, leaning down slightly to look at Yuri in the eyes. 

“Consider this an early warning, Miss Kwon. Stay away from Wheein. If you’re still trying to get anywhere near her, I will ruin you.”

Shiver ran down Yuri’s back when she looked at the cold fury in Byul’s eyes.

“Here’s a little bit of facts that you didn’t even bother to check before making your move. Out of the eight partners in this law firm, I scouted and hijacked one third of them. They… and the rest of their associates will follow me out if I asked them. I recruited all the lawyers in the corporate department, they _will_ follow me out. You can say goodbye to Hyejin and almost half the senior associates in the criminal department, they were loyal to her and her only.”

Yuri wanted to look away, yet she was unable to do so, the iciness of Byul’s voice was hypnotizing.

“One command. All it takes is one command from me and almost half of this firm man power will leave and where they go, the client will follow. Mark my words, stay the fuck away from my girl or I'll make sure I'll ruin you, and if this law firm crumbles because of it, that's on you. You will single handedly ruined your father's legacy, Nod if you understand.”

Yuri gulped, only her pride prevented her from nodding, to follow Byul’s order like a puppet on a string.

She watched the woman left her office without looking back after saying her piece. Raking her fingers through her hair, Yuri shook her head. No. Moon Byul was just bluffing. She wouldn’t do such a thing. Not when Wheein was still in this firm.

She needed to make sure that Wheein accepted her proposal tonight, if Wheein was her fiancé again and soon bear her family name, Byul couldn’t and wouldn’t not anything to harm the firm.

Yes. Everything was still running according to plan, all she needed to do was to make sure that Wheein didn’t know that Byul already quit the firm.

Pressing the speed dial once more, she waited. She needed to know where Wheein was at that very moment to prevent any surprises.  

***

 

Byul was pacing inside her office, she still couldn’t reach Wheein almost all day long, the line went through but she just didn’t pick up her phone and now it just went straight to voice mail, _*Where are you, Wheepup?*_

Worst case scenario if she still can’t reach Wheein, she would just follow Yuri to wherever it was they agreed to meet. She tried to calm herself down, nothing good ever come from being emotional and she need to be clear headed. She already asked the receptionist to alert her if Yuri left the premises, so that was covered already.

Byul looked around her office, her desk, the couch, the paintings, all of them, it was just things, it could be replaced, yet it brought sentimental feeling out of her. This place held so many memories.

She took out a little black velvet pouch out of her blazer inner pocket and opened it, revealing the ring inside.

The engagement ring was made from pearl, a perfect ivory orb of the gem of the sea surrounded by tiny diamonds. It was her grandmother’s engagement ring, she gave it to her just before she passed away. She said that the pearl symbolize their family name, ‘Moon’ and the diamonds symbolize her name ‘Star’. It was basically the epitome of her namesake.

Byul smiled at the thought, she subconsciously resized the ring to Wheein’s finger size a couple of weeks ago, even when she didn’t believe that she deserved Wheein, she wanted to give the ring to her. She wanted to give this tiny piece of her to the only woman that she ever loved.

She closed the lid and put the box back into her breast pocket with a sigh, guess it’s true, people tend to be sentimental as they grew older.

The shrill of her office satellite line shook her out of her reverie, her heart thumping wildly on her chest when she realized that it was already passed 6 PM, “Hello?”

“I’m sorry Miss Moon, I forgot to tell you, but Miss Kwon already left the office 15 minutes ago.”

Her heart plummeted at the news, she said thank you quickly and grabbed her hand phone, maybe if she ran now, she could still catch up to her.

She opened the door and growled when she found Wheein’s father standing there in front of her, “Move.”

“You’re too late, she’s already on her way.”

“I said move, goddamn it!” she moved to push the old man away but he simply put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

“I believed you.”

Byul stopped her struggle, too shock by what she just heard.

“I believe you when you said that you love her, that eyes of yours, Byul-ah, it never could tell a lie. So forgive this old man for doubting you. I know my protégé like she was my own flesh and blood, and now I want to get to know the woman that loves my daughter.”

He backed away and clasped both of Byul’s shoulders with his hands, and Byul almost crumbled when she saw the first sincere smile that was so familiar to her – after so long – returned back to her, “I know that I couldn’t change the past couple of weeks, but it might be a start. They’re at JungSik Dang, now go and get my daughter!”

Byul grinned and hugged the man briefly before running past him toward the elevator.

“And you can forget about quitting!! And you better marry my daughter, you rascal!!! You two are my successors in this firm!” he hollered at the running woman and laughed when Byul yelled back at him.

“If she’ll have me!!”

The man shook his head, his shoulder felt lighter now that he finally accepted the fact that the notorious womanizer really do love her daughter, _*Good, I never like Yuri anyway*_

***

 

Wheein frowned when she arrived at the usually packed restaurant – where reservation was needed just to be able to get a seat there – and found it deserted.

Yuri was waiting for her at the center of the room, she looked kind of relief when Wheein walked in but the younger woman wasn’t sure.

“You made it, I tried calling your phone but you didn’t pick up and later on, it went straight to voice mail.”

“My mom confiscated my phone, she wanted zero interruption and when I got my phone back, the battery was drained.” Wheein sat down and looked around the elegant restaurant, “This is weird, they always fully booked.”

Yuri beamed at her, “I booked the whole restaurant, just like your mother, I want zero interruption for our time together.”

Wheein grimaced slightly and looked at the smiling woman in front of her. After her impromptu talk with her mother, it was odd how everything fell into places and her mind cleared. Sitting there, across from the woman that literally forced her way back into her life, she didn’t feel anything but one tiny spectrum of feeling, pity.

“I already ordered for us, do you want to start with wine, maybe? Or soju?”

Wheein shook her head and replayed Yuri’s action in the morning instead, reaching out across the table, she took both of Yuri’s hands in hers.

“Yuri-ah….” She looked at the warm hopeful look that Yuri gave her and the feeling that plaque her increased ten folds.

“I wanted to start with I’m sorry…”

She smiled sadly at the alarmed look that crossed Yuri’s features, “What we had… at the height of our relationship, it was amazing. We were young and in love and we thought that it would last forever. But it didn’t….”

“It was my fault, but I’ve changed and….” Yuri stopped when Wheein nodded slightly.

“I know. You’ve changed and so do I. I was not the same person anymore. I was not the High School kid that fell in love with you. I was not the university student that’s only goal in life was you. You gave me a very important lesson that an anchor in life is not another human being. I’ve grown a lot this past year, I found that just like my parents, my passion is in Law. I felt alive when I’m in the court room arguing my cases and I placed roots here, friends, best friends. I have finally grown to be my own person.”

“Good… that’s good, and I want to share that with you, I want to be by your side…” Yuri leaned forward, wanted to hurry whatever it was that Wheein wanted to say so she could propose.

“Yet, you still ordered my food for me.” Wheein sighed, “At first, I didn’t mind, I didn’t really think about it because you’re older than me and it was easy to relinquish control to you. I didn’t have to pick our places to date, we coordinate our outfit – it was cute, at first, but it was tiring as time went by to always wear some sort of couple outfit with you, you suggested strongly where I should take my law degree, because you’re already working in New York, even though I wanted to go to Harvard, but I did it, I did it because I wanted to stay close to you. You even suggested which clique I have to hang out with, you said that they would gave me good influence.”

Wheein laughed depreciatingly, “I did all that, because I wanted you to be happy. But now, I realized that I was not my own person at that time, I was just a mere shadow of myself, because you wanted me to be perfect. Perfect for you. But…. And this is a really big but, no matter what I do. It was never enough for you, because you still refuse to acknowledge me as your fiancé.”

“Yes. I realized that, but…”

“Hear me out, please.” Wheein nearly glared at her just to shut her up and sighed heavily.

“See, the thing is, I found someone that accepted me for me. She didn’t complained when I dressed messily, just because I don’t feel like dressing up. She didn’t complain when I ignored her the whole day because I was busy with work. She didn’t complained when I channel surf or binge eating or make a fool out of myself because I could be a dork sometimes. She just laughed or smiled at me, or messed up my hair. She was patient with me and listened to me every time, even when I’m not making any sense. She was patient with me even when I was cranky because I just pulled a long hour at work, or because I was hungry. She held my hands in public, sat me on her laps, she told me her darkest nightmare and she let me in into her small sanctuary.”

Wheein smiled at the memory, “She owned my heart, every single part of it.” She leveled her gaze to the older woman and tightened her hold on Yuri’s now clammy hands. “So I have no place for you in it. This game that you are playing has to stop. I realized now that I made a mistake by agreeing to your request. I was foolish enough to think that I could give her happiness by protecting her, but she didn’t need protecting. I should’ve believed in her just like she always believes in me.”

She took a deep breath and wet her lips, “No matter what the future hold, I will always love Byul and only Byul. I hope that one day you will find someone that would give you the same kind of feeling that Byul showed me existed.”

Wheein squeezed Yuri’s hands lightly and stood up, “Good bye…”

“Stop! Don’t you dare take another step away from me!” Yuri stood up as well, all dignified fury.

“Please don’t humiliate yourself….” Wheein looked at her with so much pity in her eyes, Yuri could feel her face turning red.

“You will be sorry if you walked out that door, Wheein…. I swear to God….”

Wheein’s eyes turned into steel at her words, “Then do your worse. It wouldn’t change a thing.”

Wheein squared her shoulder and walked out with her head held high, she didn’t even bothered to look back at the furious woman that still screaming out her name. She already closed that particular chapter of her life. It didn’t need to be revisited.

 

 

The winter air felt like a little pinprick of needles as she sucked in a deep breath and let the icy coldness filled her lungs. She walked along the side walk, looking left and right for a taxi, already planning to buy something to eat and surprised Byul with warm foods. _*Hopefully she’ll be home on time tonight.*_

The sound of tire screeching to a halt startled her, so did the cold gaze fury that Byul gave her from the lowered window of her car, “Get the fuck in!”

Wheein gulped, wondering what made Byul looked as if someone just stole her coffee, “What are you doing here?”

“I said get the fuck in the car!”

Wheein hesitated briefly before she got into the passenger seat. Byul waited until Wheein safely put on her seat belt before she stepped on the accelerator fully, weaving through the traffic with blazing speed.

The tension inside of the car was nearly unbearable for the younger woman, her gut feeling said that Byul knew what she had done, the look on her face was scary to say the least, and the way she drove the car in such speed starting to get Wheein nervous.

“Byul, slow down.” She gripped the car handle when Byul made a sharp u turn, “Seriously, we’re not in that fast and furious movie, there’s no need to drift the car!”

Her heart was thumping wildly when Byul slammed the brake, stopping the car near the Han Riverbanks and walked out, slamming the car door on her wake. She tentatively walked out of the car as well, gripping the car door and watched the older woman stood there gazing up at the star, both of her hands was tucked inside her black wool trench coat.

“That’s a fast dinner.” She said after a while, still not looking at Wheein.

Wheein bit her lips, not really sure how to respond to that, although keeping her mouth shut seemed like the best course of action at that point.

“I know you have trust issues, but when you said that you believed in me, I honestly thought that you did. Believed in me, that is, until someone told me that you lied.”

Byul turned, her face was a mask of coldness but her eyes were blazing as she looked at Wheein with so much pain, it stabbed at Wheein to the core.

“Why?”

Such a simple question, yet Wheein’s tongue was tied. Her throat went dry and it was hard to swallow. “I thought it was for the best…”

“For whom? Me? You’re a mind reader now?” Wheein winced when Byul threw her words back at her.

“You would be heartbroken if you have to leave Yongsun unnie….”

“Yongsun is a grown up, she’ll be fine without me. Besides, there such a thing called technology, including phone, which apparently have no use for you.”

Wheein looked down on the ground, the pressure on her chest increased with every ticking second, “You said you would quit the Firm… it was your second home…”

“I could build another one. A home is where your heart is, it’s not a place or a job.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt because of me! I…” Wheein looked up, a tear slipped past her guard, she couldn’t handle Byul’s cold tone anymore.

“So you would rather leave me, without asking whether it was what I wanted? How I would feel about it? Or do you actually wanted to go back to her?” the emphasized on the word ‘ _her’_ was so full of bitterness and pain, it tore at Wheein’s conscious.

“How could you say that….”

“What do you want me to say!? How would I know what’s on your freaking mind when you didn’t tell me about it!”

“I’m sorry!! I told you!! I thought it was for the best because I don’t want anyone to hurt you!!”

“But you hurt me!!!”

Wheein staggered back against the car, Byul’s words felt like a physical blow to her gut.

“I would not be broken hearted if I have to leave Yongsun, but my heart would be torn into pieces if you left me! The firm is not my home, because it was not where my heart belongs, it belongs to YOU! Goddamn it!” Byul tightened her jaw and looked away.

Wheein’s hand reached up to cover her mouth, however a soft sob still came out. She couldn’t feel her feet, yet somehow she was able to move it until she was able to hug Byul. Her cheek pressed against Byul’s back as tears falls down from her eyes, “I’m sorry…. I’m sorry….”

Wheein felt something wet splashed against her clasped hands, she sucked in her breath and tightened her hold on Byul’s torso.

“I wanted to be the one that buy you your favorite strawberry yogurt. I wanted to be the one that make you coffee in the morning. I wanted to be the one that you grab whenever you watch horror movie. I wanted to be one that listened to all of your rant while you pace in the living room.”

Each soft word felt like a blunt knife hacking through Wheein’s heart.

Byul turned around, face wet with tears as she looked dejectedly at Wheein, “I wanted YOU to be the one that I see from the first time I open my eyes and the last thing that I see before I fell asleep.”  

Wheein reached up and cupped Byul’s face with both of her hands, thumbs brushing away the remnant of Byul’s tears as she whispered, “Please don’t cry… Oh God… Please….”

Byul closed her eyes and leaned against one of her hand, “How could I live if you left me, Wheepup?”

Wheein shook her head harshly, “No… Never… I would never leave you. Byul… I made a mistake… but I already told her that no matter what she would do, she would never get me back. It would be impossible because I love you…. I love you so goddamn much it hurts…”

Byul covered the hand that she leaned on with her own, her eyes opening when she heard Wheein’s confession, “What?”

“I love you...baby... I love you...” Wheein choked on her sob when she finally let her deepest feeling raised to the surface.

“But you would still leave me....”

“It was a mistake... I was being stupid... Byul please....” Wheein almost choke on her words, pleading with Byul with her eyes to grant her forgiveness.

“I almost die when she told me that you decided to leave me and give her another chance.” Byul pried Wheein’s hands from her face and Wheein’s heart plummeted on a downward spiral.

“You almost killed me, Jung Wheein… how could I forgive you…”

“Byul?” fear gripped Wheein’s heart in an iron grip and she suddenly felt light headed, especially when Byul let go of her hands. * _No… Byul… Please no…_ *

“A lifetime sentences.”

“What?” her brain cannot register what Byul just said, too addled by fear of losing the woman in front of her.

“I can’t have you try to kill me for the second time, I don’t think I would survive. So I sentenced you for a lifetime. A lifetime with me.” Byul reached inside her coat and took out a tiny little black box and Wheein’s breath catches.

She opened the lid and looked at Wheein with the most beautiful smile that Wheein ever seen, “Marry me.”

She looked at the pearl and diamond ring inside of the box and cried. Tears keep streaming down her face until Byul started to get worried, “Wheein?”

“I hate you!” Wheein pushed Byul away with all of her might and Byul’s face fell.

“So it’s a no….”

“OF COURSE IT’S A YES! I hate you for scaring me like that!! Now come here and hold me!!”

Byul never felt so relieved, nothing ever felt so nerve wrecking, not even a gun to her face and she literally been through that.

She laughed and picked up the girl that changed her for the better. Twirling Wheein around in her embrace as both women laughed through their tears, she put Wheein back on the ground gently and gaze lovingly at her, “I love you…”

“Pretty sure I love you more.” Wheein whispered, her dimple deepened as she smiled a smile that almost blinded Byul with its brilliance.

Byul took out the ring from its cushion and lifted Wheein’s hand. They both looked on as Byul slide the ring slowly, past the ridges of her tiny knuckle until it nestled on Wheein’s ring finger where it belong.

“It fits.” Wheein looked at it with wonderment.

“It was my grandmother’s. I had to steal one of your ring to resize it.”

Wheein stared at the ring for far too long, long enough to make Byul slightly nervous, “Do you like it? I mean, if you don’t, I could buy you another diamond ring, anything you want really… I mean…”

“Byul.” Wheein looked up and glared at Byul into silence.

“It’s perfect.”

Wheein reached up, locking her hands around Byul’s neck and looked at her with all the love that she felt for her shining through her eyes.

“Just like you…” she whispered softly and captured Byul’s lips with her own.

Sealing their promise of a lifetime together with a kiss.

***

 

** EPILOGUE **

 

“I think that’s everything.” Byul zipped up the luggage and pulled it up, lining it with the other three suitcases that they would take with them to London.

After a discussion amongst the partners, it was agreed that Byul will represent the Firm to be their liaison in London, but she would not go there alone. They agreed that even though Wheein was still a junior associate, her status as the managing partner’s daughter would be an added value for the negotiation.

“I can’t believe my babies would be leaving... They grew up so fast....” Yongsun pretended to dab tears from her eyes and the other three rolled their eyes in sync.

“Stop being a drama queen.” Hyejin leaned against the kitchen counter, a beer bottle wrapped around her hand, “I would miss you guys, I’ll take an absence of leave and visit you guys there in a month. Let’s paint the town red!”

“Don’t you dare getting married there though! I’m warning you! I want to plan the wedding and the whole nine yard, so don’t even think to elope or anything stupid, because I will hunt you down.”

“Relax, they won’t do such a thing because they would need their best mates there, right?”

Byul and Wheein nodded their head hurriedly, too afraid by the glint on Hyejin’s eyes.

Yongsun clapped her hands giddily, “Just focus on your job there, I will prepare everything here, so when you two returned from London, all you have to do is just walk down that aisle.”

“But I want to have the wedding in Bali though...” Wheein whispered and looked at Byul, smiling at each other as the memory of their time together there resurfaced.

“No worries, just leave it to me. I’ll plan the grandest wedding ever, I promise you.”

“Will Eric have time to fly out to Bali though?” Hyejin laughed when the tip of Yongsun’s ear reddened at the mentioned of Eric’s name.

“Wha... What’s that got to do with anything?” Yongsun nearly stammered out her words.

“The gossip vine at the courtroom said that he asked you out on a date, took him long enough.” Byul winked at the blushing Yongsun.

“I... I didn’t say yes though....” Yongsun looked down, suddenly fascinated by her own fingers.

“Why?” Wheein was curious, Eric seemed like a great guy.

“There’s just no spark.” She shrugged lightly.

“Will it make a difference if I’m the one that ask you out?” Hyejin teased the older woman lightly.

Yongsun blushed deepened, her whispered ‘ _maybe’_  was almost unheard, but the identical blush that suffused Hyejin’s face was enough proof that the short haired woman heard it loud and clear.

Wheein nudged Byul on her side and gave her a dimpled grin that Byul returned with a grin of her own.

They found their happy ending, and maybe... just maybe... another happy ending is in the making.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally!!! Happy ending all around!!! Thank you so much for sticking to this story until the very end, you all have been an amazing reader! Yeay! Hopefully all of you enjoyed the roller coaster ride, it's been a pleasure writing this piece and I'll see all of you next time *Piano man bow* 
> 
> All comments and critics are welcome down below!!! Talk to you guys later!!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys like it so far ^^


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